


Well Hybrid Be Damned

by Heartsprout (graygryphon)



Series: Heartsprout's Hybrid AU [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Drinking, Dry Humping, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everything turns out OK, First Time, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Hare!Ray, Heartsprout's Hybrid Au, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid AU, Injury, Insomnia, Mate Bonding, Multi, Open Relationships, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Polyamorous relationship, Small mentions of blood, Smut, Sugar Glider!Jeremy, Violence, bird!gavin, bull!Ryan, cat!Michael, does that count?, lion!Jack, more in reference, not in great detail though, or rather geoff plams gavin through his pants till he creams, ram!Geoff, wolf!Dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-06-09 01:20:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6883210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graygryphon/pseuds/Heartsprout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin has always felt like a feathered failure, ever since his early bird-hybrid presenting had proven to be less of the blessing he was expecting</p><p>But an encounter with a scrappy cat hybrid could bring him closer to where he want's to be</p><p>Maybe his dreams will finally get off the ground?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Knocking Heads Together

**Author's Note:**

> Kia Ora!
> 
> After the positive response to my previous fic, I decided to try my hand at another
> 
> I've been working on the AU for months now, mostly in daydream form, so i thought i'd get it down and see where it goes
> 
> The only main changes i've made for this AU (aside from most people being hybrids) is that Jack is a trained paramedic (though still works at RT) and Ray did leave RT but is part of the poly-ship and just does his streaming for their shared house
> 
> Also it is 2am, so if you read it before I get a chance to edit it tomorrow then please forgive any errors that spell checker didn't pick up!

 

Gavin kicked a rock along the footpath, digging his hands deeper into his pockets.

His shoulder blades itched where his wings longed to sprout free, but he bit down on his lip and tried to muscle past the need

He had thought he had been lucky to present at such a young age, but it had turned out to be a nightmare for him

Instead of having a few extra years to strengthen his wings and perfect his flying technique, he had remained unable to get himself off the ground for more than a few moments at a time.

It was no good presenting at 18 if he was still just as useless at 20 when all his friends had begun to present at the proper age.

He often found himself alone, left out of conversations and social gatherings.

Not to mention that Dan had somehow managed to find his mate already. Very few hybrids ever find their mate bond, and even fewer find it a few months after presenting.

Though, wolves do have an excellent sense of smell which probably helped.

He kicked the rock again when he caught up to where it had previously stopped, and this was when he heard the raucous laughter approaching from around the corner.

He recognised the voices

He considered quickly crossing the road and taking the long way home when they turned the corner

The trio all paused when they saw him and Gavin prayed they wouldn’t recognise him

But then a dark grin spread on the larger males face, and he let out a loud chuckle.

“What do we have here, boys? If it isn’t _Gavin pee_ , the flightless flop” he roared as the trio stalked closer.

Gavin had frozen in his tracks and now stared terrified at the ground.

“What’s a sad sack of feathers doing all alone, eh?” another boy chuckled as they came to a stop a foot in front of him.

“I-I don’t want any trouble” Gavin stammered, palms sweating and eyes darting to find a way to get around them without passing in arm’s length.

“Well it’s not like you could fly away!” the third male barked and the trio roared with laughter.

Gavin tried to act fast, darting past them, but he miscalculated and the boy he passed closest to reached out and gripped his bicep tight, yanking him to the side and pinning him to the wooden fence that ran along the path.

Gavin yelped and tried to wriggle free, grasping at the guy’s wrist to try loosen it from across his collarbone.

“Look at him squirm!” one yelled as Gavin tried to force down his panicked sobs.

“Just as useless as ever! Go on; show us your wings!” another taunted, and the man holding him in place threw him to the side, making Gavin topple and land heavily on his hip.

Gavin’s eyes were blown wide with fear, and he couldn’t help the reflex to let his wings sprout

His skin seemed to crackle with static electricity as his hybrid side took control.

His wings seemed to burst from his back in a splay of feathers as his finger nails grew and curved, hardening into short talons. His clothes were designed with wings in mind, the lycra fabric that covered the slits on the back of his shirt stretching to make way for his new appendages.

The trio loomed over him.

“Look at how scared he is!”

“What a pussy!”

“Kick his ass, Alan!”

Gavin tried to scrabble backwards, talons scraping on the pavement, pain flaring in his hip.

“Leave him alone, asswipes!”

All heads turned to see where new voice had come from. Gavin peered through the trio’s legs to see the cat-brid standing at the street corner, tail swishing angrily behind him and hands balled into fists at his sides.

The cat was about the same height as Gavin, but with a bigger build and more muscular arms, a mess of red curls on his head above his flashing angry eyes.

“Piss of, pussy cat, mind your damn business!” one of the attackers threatened, and Gavin caught the corner of the cat’s mouth twist up in a dark smile before he lunged forward, claws extended and ears pressed back against his hair.

The cat had struck the tallest guy across the face with a sharp punch before the other two could react, and then all hell broke loose.

Hands and claws were flying, angry hissing amongst furious shouts and grunts. Gavin struggled to his feet and pushed forward, desperate to help the cat against the three bulky brutes.

He managed to sink his talons into the forearm of one guy, but he had instantly swung around and clipped Gavin in the side of the head with a fist.

Gavin’s head connected with the fence and then his brain connected with darkness

 

______

 

_… Hey…_

_… Hey, dude, can you hear me? ..._

Gavin scrunched up his nose, letting out a low groan at the throbbing pain in the back of his skull. He eased his eyes open and even the weak evening light hurt his head.

“ _Jesus_ my head hurts”

“Well you smacked it pretty hard” the voice chuckled.

Gavin let his eyes focus on the man kneeling in front of him. He was confused at first who he was looking at

_The eyes are different_

“What happened?” Gavin asked, sitting up more and leaning on the fence as he rubbed his head.

The cat, now presenting as human, smiled at him.

“They got in a few good hits, but claws trump fingernails so I showed them a thing or two”

Gavin took in the cat’s appearance. His hair was mussed up and a brilliant bruise was blossoming on his right cheekbone making his eye squint a little from the swelling.

“Oh my god! Are you ok?” Gavin squeaked, reaching forward but hesitating a few inches away. The cat grinned

“I took quite a chunk out of one guy’s arm which is ultimately why they ran” he beamed, holding up a hand to show off the splatter of blood on his fingers.

Gavin plastered a hand over his mouth, desperate to not let his gag reflex make him look like even more of a weakling. The cat just chuckled.

“I’m Michael, by the way”

“Gavin” he wheezed when he was finally sure he wasn’t going to boke.

Michael stood and offered Gavin a hand (thankfully the clean one)

Gavin took it and let Michael pull him to his feet where he became very aware that his hip was still very painful.

Michael managed to steady Gavin when the bird-brid yelped and took the weight off the leg, causing him to overbalance.

“Are you ok?” Michael asked, concern in his voice.

“Yeah… just hurt my hip kinda” Gavin said, trying to grin but it looked quite forced by pain. Michael pursed his lips.

“Come; my house isn’t far from here, just down the road. My boyfriend studied as a paramedic so he can help” Michael said with a gentle smile.

Gavin looked at him a moment before sighing and nodding.

It’s not like he was going to get far on his own anyway.

Michael pulled Gavin's arm over his shoulders and put his other arm around the small of Gavin's back, taking up most of his weight and doing more work than Gavin did really as they headed around the corner and down the road.

“So you’re a bird-brid? That’s cool” Michael said, making small talk and not even sounding remotely strained. Sure Gavin was very twig-like these days, but he had to count for something. He pondered sprouting his wings to see if the added weight would slow Michael down.

“Yeah, it’s not as great as it sounds…” Gavin said with a dry chuckle. Michael gave him a confused look.

“Why not? Flying around and shit? Sounds badass!” Michael said. What remained of Gavin's smile fell as he looked at the path ahead. He saw Michael look at him in his peripheral vision before looking ahead and changing the subject.

“I’m actually part of a herd. Jack and I wanted to call it a pack, but there are more herbi's than carni’s’ so they won the vote” Michael chuckled.

“How many of you are there?” Gavin asked.

“Five of us; Ray the hare, Jack the lion, Geoff the ram, Ryan the bull and I’m the cat. Oh, and Ray has a boyfriend called Jeremy. He’s a sugar glider, but they aren’t mate bonded” Michael said.

Gavin knew multi-bonds were a thing, but he had never heard of one so big. He also didn’t know mated hybrids could have non-bonded partners, but you learn something new every day.

“Wow, that really is a herd” Gavin said with a smile. Michael gave a proud grin.

“What about you? Do you have a partner? Mate?” Michael asked. Gavin shook his head.

“Nah, no one’s ever really shown any interest in me. I had a girlfriend when I first moved here, but we drifted apart and then next thing you know she had bonded with another girl. I’m not bitter, you can’t really argue with the infinite pull of mate bonding, but I’ve been single for quite a while” Gavin said.

Michael bobbed his head, not really knowing what to say.

“Well, here we are”

Gavin looked up at the house. It was a two storey house with a small covered landing in front of the front door. A swinging deck chair sat to the left of the door and a path stretched from the footpath to the porch steps. A short driveway to a garage was to the right of them and an old russet coloured pickup truck sat on the driveway.

Gavin noticed a curtain push aside so a figure could peer out of the window beside the front door. The curtain was replaced and then a moment later the front door swung open and an angry looking man with inked up arms and generous facial hair stood there with his arms crossed.

“Sup, Geoff, howsit?”

“Don’t sup me, you little shit” Geoff rumbled as they made their way up the path “Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been! It started getting dark ten minutes ago and you were supposed to be back ages ag-“

Geoff cut off as they crossed into the light spilling out of the door, illuminating the dark purple bruise on Michael’s cheek and the blood on his hand around Gavin's waist. Geoff's eyes widened and then he was storming towards them.

Gavin froze as the man barrelled up to Michael and took a hold of his face, turning it to get a better look at the blossom of colour.

“What the _fuck_ happened!” Geoff roared. Despite the power Gavin could feel rolling off the large man’s frame, Michael only grinned and chuckled.

“I had to save Gavin from a group of cock bites. I showed them who was boss” Michael said.

Geoff now turned his head to look at Gavin as if only just now noticing the bird. Their eyes locked and Gavin was caught in the grey gaze of Geoff. He felt his heart skip a beat, most likely from fear, as Geoff’s eyes narrowed and then swept the brits body. He took in Gavin's raised leg and his shoulders seemed to relax slightly.

“Well, you don’t look _completely_ like road kill, so I’ll let it slide this time, but make sure you call next time” Geoff said, turning back to Michael. He gave Gavin another small glance as he turned and headed back up the path with the boys in tow.

As they stepped into the house Gavin was hit by a wave of mixed hybrid scents.

He had experienced the smell of a cacophony of hybrids during his school days, but this was different.

Instead of all the different scents clashing, these ones seemed to work in harmony, like they were different instruments from the same song.

Looking around the room, Gavin noticed a man the same age as Michael and himself sitting on the sofa, occupied with a Nintendo DS. He didn’t even look up as they entered and Gavin wondered if he even realised they were there.

To the right of the room was the kitchen, divided from the living room by the carpet transitioning into linoleum. It was slightly sunken from the room, with a round table in the centre of the ‘kitchen’. Five chairs were spaced around it, and a man sat in one of the chairs reading a book.

If Gavin had thought Geoff was a large man, this man was even _larger_.

He had a heavier build and an even _more_ impressive beard than Geoff’s. he looked up from his book as they entered and his expression became firm as he stood and approached them.

He was essentially the same height as Geoff, but Gavin sensed he would be more of a challenge in a fight.

“Michael, are you serious right now?” the man asked, stopping before them and looking them over.

“Like 45%. It was _barely_ a fight” Michael grinned, rolling his eyes. The man seemed satisfied that Michael’s face wasn’t that much of an issue right now, so turned to Gavin and his hip first.

“How bad is your leg hurt? Can you put any weight on it?” the man asked. He must be the paramedic Michael spoke of.

“I was pushed to the ground and landed on it pretty hard” Gavin said meekly, letting his foot touch the ground and adding a small amount of weight to it. Pain flared down his thigh and through the joint, but it wasn’t as extensive as when he had tried on the street. “My hip hurts but it’s kind of better than before” he added.

The man nodded.

“Ice should be enough for now, it’s probably just bruised” he said, turning and heading to the kitchen to get an icepack from the freezer.

“He also slammed his head pretty hard on a fence, Jack, so you might need to check if he knocked his brain loose” Michael chuckled as he helped Gavin over to sit on a single seater sofa.

Jack. The lion. Gavin supressed a shiver.

“Don’t be rude” jack chided as he came over with the pack and a cloth to wrap it in. he handed it to Gavin who lifted his shirt slightly to apply it to a prime area. Already he could see the beginnings of a impressive bruise, which jack also seemed to catch, making him hum.

“Michael, make yourself useful, go get my bag” Jack said, sitting on the other single sofa opposite Gavin's one.

Michael rolled his eyes but headed off down the corridor leading further into the house.

“So, you were attacked?” jack asked with a tone that expressed a bedside manner that felt natural for the man and not trained.

Gavin nodded.

“Three guys, I went to school with them. They are just bullies” he said. Jack bobbed his head.

“So this has happened before?”

Gavin’s eyes automatically looked away, landing on a Xbox controller sitting on the glass coffee table in the centre of the sitting area. Jack gave a small sigh.

Michael returned now with what looked like a fully kitted out paramedics bag. Jack produced one of those small torches that doctors use to test eye responsiveness, and then proceeded to do exactly that to Gavin.

“Well, you aren’t concussed, but you’re probably going to have one hell of a headache tomorrow” Jack said with a smile that made his eyes scrunch up in the corners.

Despite his size, Gavin could only feel pure sweetness from the man. A gentle giant.

Gavin sat back in the sofa, supressing a yawn. Jack’s head tilted to the side slightly.

“You're tired. If you want you can rest here for a while, or I can drive you to your house if you would prefer?” Jack offered.

Gavin thought about the quite cold house he would be returning to, and then compared it to the warm, homely place he was in now. He didn’t sense any danger and was way too exhausted to want to move right now.

“I might give my hip a few more minutes before I kick it into action, if that's ok?” Gavin asked.

Jack smiled warmly.

“Of course” he said, standing and moving over to the coffee table. He picked up the TV remote and switched on the large flat screen TV mounted to the wall above a large stone fireplace. A re-run of some comedy show played quietly as jack marched Michael off down the hallway threatening him with a shower if he didn’t get the blood cleaned off his hand in the next few seconds. The man with the DS hadn’t moved an inch during the whole time Gavin had been there

It didn’t take long for the background noise of the TV, the bleeping of the DS game and the humming of the fridge to lull Gavin in to a gentle sleep.

 


	2. A Plate At Breakfast, A Place At The Table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy new chapter!
> 
> Go forth, my children
> 
> again, forgive any errors till I do a proper check. I get so excited when I finish a drawing or piece of writing, I want to get it up immediately and then go back for edits etc

_…of course I sensed it, I’m not new to this whole thing…_

_…what about you? …_

_…I felt_ something _when we first touched, but then again Geoff is the alpha so- …_

_…I think he’s waking up…_

Gavin let out a small noise as he stretched, feeling his taut muscles relax.

He was still on the sofa, but a blanket had been laid over him.

It was also very apparent that it was now morning.

Gavin's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull as he sat forward from his slumped position in the chair. He had been there the whole night! Why hadn’t they woken him?

“Morning Gavin”

Gavin turned his head to see the men he had met yesterday sitting at the dining room table, only now joined by another man he hadn’t seen before. He was watching Gavin with impossibly blue eyes while the others smiled at him

Well, except for the man who was _still_ on his DS

“You didn’t wake me?” Gavin said confused and Jack chuckled.

“We thought you deserved a good sleep after the events of yesterday” Geoff said with a laugh “Michael wasn’t really the best rescue team you could have had” he added, making Michael grumble and stuff a mouthful of eggs in his mouth.

Gavin now noticed the heavenly smell of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon.

Astronauts in orbit could have heard his stomach.

“Do you want some breakfast? I over cooked as usual so there’s plenty spare” Jack said, gesturing to the still steaming pan of eggs in the centre of the table and plate of toast and bacon beside it.

Gavin only hesitated for a moment, _these people have already given so much_ , before he found himself limping over to the table and sitting down at the chair Geoff had pulled over from the corner.

Jack set a plate in front of him and handed him a spatula to dish himself his own helping while the rest continued eating.

Gavin felt like his taste buds had died and gone to heaven

He had spent so long living on microwave dinners and breakfast biscuits that he had forgotten how good real food could be.

He was halfway through his food when he realised the blue eyed man was still watching him with an expressionless face.

He didn’t seem angry, it’s just that he didn’t seem like _anything_ , a master of the poker face, so Gavin was too intimidated to take more than quick glances at him occasionally disguised as casual looks around the room.

Jack finally made the connection.

“Oh, I just realised you never properly met Ryan and Ray yesterday. The one too engrossed in his game to notice if his leg fell off is Ray, and this is Ryan” Jack said, gesturing with his head at the respective men.

“Uh, nice to meet you” Gavin said with a small smile. Ryan just bobbed his head once and then thankfully turned his attention back to his food, and Ray could have been a statue for all he responded.

“You’ll have to forgive them; Ryan gets distant when he hasn’t slept well, and Ray is just an enigma” Geoff said with a goofy side smile. Ryan rolled his eyes at Geoff, but Gavin noticed a tiny smile pull up the corner of his mouth.

“No worries, I used to get pretty tunnel minded when I had an Xbox” Gavin offered with a slightly easier smile.

And you’d have thought he flipped a switch the way Ray suddenly lifted his head and looked at Gavin.

“You like gaming?” he asked, eyes wide but serious.

“Uh, yeah, only I had to leave my Xbox in England and haven’t really had time to restock my gear” he said. He didn’t mention the real reason of him having no _money_ to even consider restocking.

Ray looked at Geoff now with a look that Gavin could only relate to when a child looks at its parent in the hopes they will let their friend come over to play.

Geoff gave a smile, but a moment later he was looking down at his food with a rather solemn look of consideration.

“Uh, Gavin, there’s something I was hoping to ask you” Geoff said.

The energy in the room suddenly seemed to change into some kind of cautious expectation, leaving Gavin confused and raising his guard slightly.

“I was wondering… when you first met Michael… did you, uh, _sense_ something? Like a strange feeling you hadn’t experienced before?” Geoff asked, looking up at him.

Gavin's eyebrows pulled together in confusion, and he looked at Michael who was pushing a piece of bacon around his plate nervously.

What did he mean _strange feeling_? What did that mean?

Gavin looked back at Geoff.

“I’m not really sure what you mean. I was kind of preoccupied at the time so…” he trailed off. Geoff bobbed his head and it seemed it was Jack's turn

“What about when you met Geoff? Did something seemed to… occur to you? I don’t really know how to explain it” he said, adding a smile at the end to try soften the atmosphere.

Gavin started shaking his head, confused, then something came back to him and he froze.

 _His eyes_. When Gavin had made eye contact with Geoff yesterday he had felt strange, something he had forgotten about till now. He had thought it was fear that made his heart jump, but what if this was what they were talking about?

All the men seemed to pick of Gavin halting his head shake, and eyes turned to him.

“Well… when I first met Geoff, and our eyes met… I got a weird feeling. I had thought it was nerves, but is that what you mean?” Gavin asked.

Everyone’s foreheads seemed to smooth out at once as they all seemed to comprehend something that Gavin appeared to be missing.

“You were right” Ryan said to Geoff, catching Gavin off guard. It was the first time he had spoken, and his voice was deep and rich.

“Right about what?” Gavin asked cautiously. Geoff gave Ryan an unamused look and then swivelled in his chair slightly so he was facing Gavin more. His face was open and kind, but there was something in his eyes that Gavin couldn’t place.

“Well, Gavin, I felt it too. When our eyes locked, I experienced a sensation” Geoff said, then added “I’ve only felt it four other times”

Gavin frowned confused, and then something else came back to him

_“I’m actually part of a herd”_

_“How many of you are there?”_

_“Five of us”_

There were five other men beside Gavin sitting at the table. Five bonded mates. That meant Geoff had bonded four times.

“You mean…” Gavin started to say but trailed off. He looked between each of the men who all now returned his eye contact. Things then started to register to him.

The fact that even though he only met them yesterday, he felt like this was not the first time they had been in the same room. That despite these men being strangers, they didn’t really feel like it. Sure he was nervous, but he wasn’t afraid, and it kind of felt more like anxiety; like he was expecting something to happen that was… what? What was it? What was he waiting for?

“We think you bonded to us” Michael said, giving Gavin the grin he had only first seen yesterday, but which felt like he had known forever.

There was silence for a few moments as Gavin took in all this new information.

“To all of you?” Gavin asked, voice quiet but not small. The men exchanged small looks then nodded. Even Ryan, who now looked more tired than blank.

“Michael mentioned it when he and I were in the bathroom” Jack said “and when we told Geoff we had both sensed it, he was not surprised. Ray commented when we were getting ready for bed, and I’m assuming it solidified for Ryan when you woke up”

“How come the feeling didn’t happen with all of you?” Gavin asked

“It was the same for most of us, really. Our strongest click was to Geoff, and then the rest just kind of fell into place” Ray said “we think it's cause he’s like an alpha to our herd”

Gavin thought for a moment. What happened now? Did he now just slot into their lives and them into his, like a puzzle piece that hadn’t been placed yet? Or did this take time and progression? He had never looked in depth into bonded groups of hybrids and how the dynamic of the new relationship worked. He had never had a reason.

“So I have not just one mate, but five?” Gavin asked, mostly rhetorically as his eyes disassociated as he got lost in thought.

“Don’t worry; this doesn’t just _happen_ , really. There is a kind of buffer period” Jack said

“We treat it kind of like dating. We give it time to fully settle itself into our minds, to adjust our lives around it” Geoff added.

Gavin nodded. It felt kind of strange, or rather _different_. He had always wondered why bonded mates never even pondered what would happen if they didn’t end up liking each other, didn’t even consider it not working out. He had put the question to Dan, who had just shrugged and couldn’t think of a way to explain it.

But now it was starting to make sense

It didn’t feel like they were creating something new, it felt like they were discovering something that had been in the works for a long time. It felt right, somehow, like a balance had been created and all the pieces had fallen into place. He wasn’t unaware that he knew next to _nothing_ about these men, and them the same of him, but it was like he could see _who_ they were that was deeper than skin and bone.

It felt like they were all built from the atoms of the same star that had burst billions of years ago, and it was now finding its way back together.

It felt like _home_

He felt the smile spreading on his face, the warm feeling in his gut and the way the tension seemed to melt from his shoulders.

He didn’t even feel when his wings sprouted.

Then the men all mirrored his smile as they also presented in a wave around the table. Bird, cat, ram, lion, bull and Hare. A real miss-match of hybrids.

“Welcome to the herd, Gavin”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don;t think anyone is more excited for the progression of this than me lmao


	3. Leaky Taps And Sneaky Smee's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter because fitting the next bit in smoothly was giving me a hard time lmao
> 
> expect the next chapter soon

Gavin lay in bed listening to the sound of the clock ticking. The noise echoed hollowly around the room.

It was still very early, the sun only just beginning to rise, but for some reason he found himself awake without much conviction to get up, or much need to try fall asleep again.

The birds that had built a nest in the guttering above his window had begun their morning chorus, the chicks now old enough to have their strong voices heard alongside their parent’s

Lying on his back and looking up at the cracked ceiling, he thought about how his apartment felt even less like a home, now that he had felt a pull to a real one.

It was Sunday morning, the day after waking up in the herd’s home, and he was endlessly glad it had been a Friday when he had met them.

He had spent most of Saturday at their place, just chatting and getting to know them. They were such a varied range of people and personalities, but they had such interesting chemistry that they complemented each other brilliantly

They had all met at a company that made web content, particularly videos. They all still worked there, except Ray who had decided to peel off and start a more low-key streaming channel.

What Gavin was particularly piqued by was that the herd were part of a smaller group within the company that were more focused on video content about _video games_.

They literally were paid to _play video games_. Gavin couldn’t imagine landing such a sweet gig.

He in turn explained how he worked on a few production sets here and there, normally behind the camera. He had a fascination with the production side of video and film, and had been especially enamoured with how slow motion could be applied to various situations and occurrences.

They had chatted for a few hours, and Gavin had found it near effortless to relax into the atmosphere created, opening up more and letting more of his natural quirky self come out.

They all had a similar aesthetic for humour, and it took mere minutes for them to be joking and laughing like old friends.

It was just so _comfortable_ that Gavin had almost whined when Jack raised the idea that Gavin would probably want to head home to get out of his clothes that he had been wearing since Friday morning. Michael had also make a remark that Gavin was beginning to stink up the house, making Gavin squeak-squawk which in turn made the others only laugh harder.

He did feel a bit gross though, so he had taken Jack up on the offer to drive him home so he could shower and have some alone time to collect his thoughts and reflect.

Jack asked if Gavin wanted help getting up to his apartment on the second floor, and Gavin was almost about to accept when he was hit with the realisation that he really didn’t want his new mate to know exactly how pitiful his living quarters were. He had quickly back tracked, saying he hadn’t vacuumed yet that week and that his limp was only _just_ noticeable now after having enough time to sit and rest it. Jack had simply smiled, and waved to Gavin when he turned to look back before entering the building.

Gavin was jolted from his thoughts by the sound of something patting on his window, and he lifted his head to see the building's stray cat Smee waiting for him to let it in. Gavin gave a small smile and reached over, unhooking the latch and letting the window swing open.

Smee wandered in at a leisurely pace, stretching out his back legs before taking up his spot on Gavin's chest and sitting down, gazing into the void like Gavin wasn’t there.

Gavin rubbed his fingers on Smee’s cheek then trailing across to scratch his neck slowly, drawing pleasured purrs from the Siamese.

“I wonder if Michael will smell you on me and get jealous” Gavin chuckled, followed by a small existential crisis.

Friday he had been dreary about being alone and cast out, and now here he was at the ass-crack of dawn on Sunday with his own god damn _herd_

He was _actually_ wondering if his new _mate_ would be upset because he was patting an _actual_ cat when his _mate_ was _also_ technically a cat

Well, really he had two mates that were cats, because jack was a lion which was technically a cat so-

“ _BUGGER ME!”_ Gavin exclaimed, making Smee flee in surprise as he rolled on his side and buried his face in his hands.

_Five mates_.

So much for _everything in moderation_.

A sharp banging from the floor below him followed by the grumpy old lady yelling at him to ‘put a sock in it, pom!’ made him roll his eyes and decide he might as well get up.

Gavin had also told the herd about how he had decided to move to America to seek better opportunities in production and the likes. Ray said he would pay Gavin in crumpets to hold a boom mic for him when he streamed, and Gavin had retorted about how he was surprised he could barely hear Ray’s Mexican accent. The others had whooped and hollered while Ray made a comment under his breath about being Puerto Rican, not Mexican, but it was all evidently in good fun and Gavin knew Ray would be good for a laugh.

Smee wound around Gavin's legs as he poured the hot water into his mug and stirred the tea bag till it was a nice colour. He turned and looked over his apartment.

His bedroom was also the living room, dining room and kitchen. There was a small bathroom through a door against the back wall, and the third door in the house was a small cupboard that also housed the wheezy hot water cylinder.

It was damp and dingy, with just his bed pushed into a corner, his small fridge-freezer, microwave and kettle in the kitchen, his one old sofa he had saved from a guy who was about to take it to the dump, and his tiny flat screen monitor that sat on a squat cabinet. It didn’t even pick up any channels, the best he could do was watch a DVD in the old player his neighbour was going to biff. Sure, the player would start whirring if used for more than twenty minutes, but sometimes that was long enough to lull him to sleep when there was nothing else to do.

The one thing he owned with any _real_ value was his IPhone, which he only had to help him seem a little more collected whenever he could find work.

He pulled it from his pocket and ran his thumb over the crack running jaggedly in a diagonal across the screen. It must have happened when the guy threw him to the ground on Friday, but he hadn’t noticed till he got home Saturday afternoon.

He sighed and looked around the room

“I don’t even own a vacuum” he commented to no one but the cat that was lapping the water that dripped into the kitchen sink


	4. More Where That Came From

Gavin had been absently scrolling through Facebook on his phone via the neighbours unlocked Wi-Fi when he heard a knock at the door.

He was confused for a moment when terror gripped him.

_Had he forgotten to pay the rent?_

The only people that ever came to his house were the old lady (to complain) and the landlord (to yell)

The landlord was a man built like a brick shit-house with no end to his distaste of hybrids. Gavin didn’t know why he accepted him as a tenant, but it was probably because no one else was insane enough to want the unit.

Never the less he hounded Gavin whenever possible, especially if the rent was late.

_Had the company he worked with the other week not put his payment in his account yet?_

Gavin did everything he could to avoid the landlord, so his rent was on automatic payments. But that relied on there being money in his account.

There was another knock and Gavin realised he hadn’t moved in the two minutes since the last knock, he had just been staring at the door.

Slowly he pushed up from the sofa and approached the door.

He paused with his hand on the handle, took a deep breath and then opened it.

He felt a ridiculous wave of relief to find that it was Michael standing there, smiling and holding what Gavin prayed was a bag containing some kind of food

He then felt the terror return because it was Michael standing there, at his door, most likely expecting to come in.

Through _his_ door

Into _his_ horrible apartment

_Oh dear god_

“Hey Gav! I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. Oh, and I bought food” he grinned, lifting the bag slightly for emphasis.

_Oh dear sweet Jesus no_

“H-how did you know where I lived?” Gavin asked, hoping Michael didn’t notice the stammer at the start.

“Jack dropped you home, doofus, he told me the address and I asked a lady checking her mail which unit was yours. She had no idea who I was talking about at first, but when I said you were a bird she… figured…out…” Michael trailed off, smile faltering as he gazed past Gavin into the room behind him.

Gavin's heart rate skyrocketed as Michael slowly moved past him, looking around his pitiful living quarters.

Gavin turned and watched as Michael took in the ancient wallpaper that was peeling in places and the worn out carpet that was barely a centimetre thick.

Michael looked over Gavin's bed, and then across to the kitchen less than two meters away.

Gavin's hand was beginning to cramp where he clung to the doorknob for dear life.

“This is your appartment?” Michael asked quietly, turning to look at Gavin. He was confused, and something else Gavin couldn’t quite place.

_Concern? Pity?_

“I-I… uh… i-it’s…” Gavin didn’t know what to say, just trailed off.

Michael looked back at the room, moving over to the kitchen and setting the food on the bench. His face was neutral as he moved over and looked in the bathroom and took in the cracked tiles, then peeked in the musty hot water cupboard. He turned back to look at the room from the opposite angle, and then at Gavin.

“Why didn’t you tell us it was…” Michael struggled to find a word.

_Pathetic?_

“I didn’t want you to know, at least not just yet” Gavin said, looking down and feeling his nose itch as his eyes began to well with tears.

Michael made a small noise before he swiftly moved across the room and pulled Gavin into a hug.

Gavin was so caught by surprise that he just stood wide eyed for a few moments, before he sank into Michael, burying his face in the cats shoulder and hugging him back.

Michael held him while his chest heaved, tears silently slipping down his cheeks and wetting Michael’s shirt.

“It’s ok, shhh, its ok” Michael hummed gently as the stress Gavin had been under for so long final broke its bonds and slipped out

-

“I had so many big ideas when I came to America. I was expecting things to fall into place, but they never did” Gavin said, spread out along the sofa with his head on Michaels lap. Michael was sitting with his legs pulled up to the side of him, slowly running his fingers through Gavin's hair.

“America is kind of presented like a land of dreams sometimes” Michael said “but it’s a tough gig, even without the discrimination of hybrids”

“I knew a few people that had come over and done well to stake their claim, but thinking now I guess most of them weren’t hybrids, and the ones that were are ‘palatable’ ‘brids” Gavin said, saying ‘palatable’ with clear distaste.

He felt Michael bob his head a few times.

“Yeah, humans love the ‘cute and fuzzy’ ‘brids, love to spiel about hybrid rights when it’s convenient for their marketing” Michael said.

“What about you?” Gavin asked.

“What about me?”

Gavin turned his head to look up at Michael.

“Well you’re a cat, isn’t that ‘cute and fuzzy’?” Gavin asked.

Michael snorted and grinned.

“I’m a lean mean ass-kicking machine! I’m not a fluffy house kitty!” Michael said with gusto, making Gavin laugh quietly before heaving a weary sigh. Michael’s look turned thoughtful.

“I’m glad you spoke to me about this. I would feel like shit if you had to go any longer feeling like you had to keep this secret” he said.

Gavin hummed quietly

“Yeah, it kinda feels good to let this out. Whenever Dan comes to Austin he tries to distract me by taking me to bars and trying to hook me up with strangers, but it’s only a temporary distraction” Gavin said.

“You hook up with strangers?” Michael asked, a slight inflection in his voice that made him sound like he was digging for gossip. Gavin huffed a laugh.

“Nah, it’s not really my thing. I’ve actually nev-” Gavin cut himself off, biting his lip.

He could practically _hear_ Michael’s eyebrow rise with curiosity.

“What were you gonna say?” Michael asked.

_Bollocks_

“Nothing” Gavin said, staring a hole through the ground, hoping Michael wouldn’t notice the way his cheeks were flushing.

“No, tell me, what was it?” Michael asked, a cheeky pestering tone in his voice.

“Really, it’s nothing” Gavin insisted

“Don’t make me tickle you”

“What!?” Gavin squeaked, whipping his head around to look up at Michael who was grinning deviously at him.

“You heard me!” Michael said, suddenly attacking Gavin's ribs and neck making his shriek and squawk with laughter, trying to push Michael away.

“Ok! Ok I’ll tell you!” Gavin gasped between fits of giggles.

“Do it quick!” Michael smirked, holding his hands up and wiggling his fingers threateningly

“Kissing! I’ve never kissed anyone!” Gavin said.

Michael looked surprised and shocked, hands freezing beside his head while he processed the admittance.

Gavin’s smile fell as he began to get nervous by how long Michael had been paused like that, and then Michael’s hands were cradling the sides of Gavin's face as he pressed their lips together.

Gavin's breath caught in his throat as everything seemed to come to a stop around them, just leaving him in the moment with Michael’s mouth against his and his warm hands against his cheeks.

His eyes slipped shut and he gingerly reached up, putting a hand on Michael’s shoulder and surrendering himself to this new experience.

Michael was soft and tender, gentle presses of his lips to Gavin's with chaste breaths between, slipping a hand around the back of Gavin's neck to help hold his head up to reach Michael easier.

Gavin let his hand trail up Michael’s neck to thread in the soft curls there. He felt the static-y energy of Michael’s ears sprouting out of his hair, and then felt Michael’s long slender tail curl around his leg that was raised and bent to balance his position.

They pulled apart, foreheads still close together and eyes resting closed as they took in the moment.

Gavin was breathing heavier than usual from both the less frequent breathing and his heart racing a million miles an hour.

“Now you have” Michael whispered gently, making them both giggle quietly and open their eyes.

Gavin’s breath was stolen again by what he saw.

He had forgotten how Michael’s eyes had changed when he saved him on Friday, but now they were so close to his and he could see them crystal clear.

His pupils were blown wide and the regular chocolate brown irises had turned a golden yellow, shining vibrantly despite the dwindling evening light. It was breath taking to see, and he wondered what the world looked like to michael through cat's eyes.

“That was… wow” Gavin couldn’t think of a better word that fit the feeling he was experiencing.

Michael chuckled and bumped their foreheads together before sitting back up slightly from where he was leaning over Gavin.

“There's more where that came from, but for now why don’t we eat before it goes completely cold” Michael said.

As if on cue Gavin's stomach complained

“Sounds perfect”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think two short chapters in one day is more than ok
> 
> or rather i hope so lmao


	5. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy long chapter
> 
> also turns out this fic is gonna have slightly smutty sections to it (and some /very/ smutty sections)
> 
> appologies to anyone who wanted pg fluff, i'm going to write some one off's for this AU that will include non-sexual ones too so there will be something for everyone!
> 
> also if anyone has prompts for any one off's, drop me a comment :)
> 
> *also also* nearly every fic i've read has been written with ryan having insomnia. i have no idea if this is something ryans actually mentioned having before, or everyone just agreed to it being a thing, but it's so present that i automatically added it to my au too.

Gavin stood on the curb outside a studio, struggling to get his phone to comply as he flicked through his music. The crack was proving a little more invasive than any other screen damage he had experienced before, particularly when trying to scroll through lists and pages.

It was the end of a production day with a studio that made a cooking show with a particularly snooty chef who was too big for his boots, and Gavin had paused to try turn on something to listen to while he walked home.

“Think fast!”

Gavin’s head shot up with a jolt, in time to catch a packet of crisps right in the face.

He squawked and flailed his arms, stopping when he recognised Ray’s chuckle.

He blinked dumbly at him for a second.

“Ray? What are you doing here?” Gavin asked. The hare shrugged, digging his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he came to a stop in front of Gavin.

“I thought I’d give you some company, since you seem to walk everywhere and I was heading back from town and this was on the way to our house anyway” he said with a grin.

Gavin smiled, bending to pick up the packet that had landed on the ground and then turning and heading off with Ray down the road.

Jack was preparing a special ‘dinner date’ for the six of them. It would be at the Ramsey house, ‘ _I paid for it, I lived in it first, so it’s named after me’_ , as that was easier and more convenient for six adult men to spend some quality time together without costing a fortune. Gavin had organised to walk to the Ramsey house after he finished at the studio for the day, but Ray meeting him for the journey was a nice surprise

“So, Michael told us you live in a public restroom” Ray said in a deadpan tone, making Gavin make a noise that sounded like a cat being strangled with a violin.

“He said what!? That’s not true!” Gavin squeaked.

“Well, It was closer to ‘shit hole’, but I drew my own conclusions” Ray said, and then looked at Gavin with a grin. Gavin shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I figured he wouldn’t keep it hush-hush. It _is_ an apartment, but I’m sure it wouldn’t pass any government inspections for ‘places suitable for human occupancy’ any time soon” Gavin said.

“I’d be more upset at not having an Xbox” Ray said “My Gamerscore isn’t going to keep itself at the top of the leader board”

“You’ll have to give me a spin on yours then. You can pass it off as charity” Gavin said, pushing Ray with his shoulder slightly.

“Dude, you can’t play another man’s Xbox, I adhere to the strict rules of _no homo_ ” Ray said.

“Michael said you suck like a hoover”

“But I say _no homo_ first so it’s completely straight” Ray said, grinning at Gavin but the bird didn’t miss the slight flush spread on Ray’s cheeks.

“Wait, are you shy to admit you give good head?” Gavin grinned, bumping Ray again as he teased him.

“Bro, I give _amazing_ head, I’m just super humble” Ray retorted, bumping Gavin back. Gavin laughed.

“You didn’t say _no homo_ , though” Gavin said with a sly grin.

“You don’t have to say it when you talk about it, only when you give it” Ray said.

“I duno, Ray, sounds pretty homo to me” Gavin said, tilting his chin up and looking down at Ray with mock judgement.

Ray’s eyes narrowed playfully and gave Gavin a hearty shove, almost knocking the bird completely off balance

Gavin managed to regain control by sprouting his wings, throwing them out as counter weights.

He looked up at Ray with a daring smile.

“Oh, you wanna rough house?” Gavin asked, voice lowering as he crouched slightly as if to pounce. Rays ears sprouted and he took on a similar stance.

“You gotta catch me first”

Ray took off down the footpath at a speed that made Gavin's mouth drop, halting him for a second before he grinned and took off after the hare, wings spread and flapping madly trying to make up the speed that he naturally didn’t have in order to keep up with the fleet footed Ray.

Ray darted across streets and driveways without barely looking, sometimes passing in front of cars with seconds to spare, Gavin having to quickly angle his wings to pull him behind the vehicles so he wouldn’t smack right into the sides of them.

He could hear Ray hooting with laughter as Gavin kept falling behind further.

Gavin narrowed his eyes and pushed his wings as hard as he could, using a particular stretch of clear footpath to make good ground on catching up with Ray.

He was almost on top of the hare when Ray suddenly slammed on the breaks, skidding to a halt right as a car came barrelling out of a hidden driveway inches in front of him.

Ray had somehow known it was coming, but Gavin hadn’t had enough warning to stop his momentum.

His eyes flew wide as he saw his inevitable collision ahead of him, and without thinking he kicked hard off the ground, flapping hard with his wings and launching into the air.

He found himself lifting above the vehicle, using the roof as another platform to kick off of.

And everything seemed to slow down around him

His wings were extended out beside him, the air being caught and holding his weight as he drifted through the space several meters above the ground.

He could feel each individual feather and the way the supported him, the way they worked together and carried him.

All he could feel was the air curling around him and the way he was a part of it

He felt _free_

He stumbled as his feet reached the ground again, flapping madly to keep himself upright as he came to a stop

He blinked dumbly ahead for a few seconds, turning to see Ray jogging over to him and the car down the road behind him

The driver was shouting out his car window at them as Ray laughed.

Gavin had flown at least 50 meters

He had _flown_

“Dude, that was awesome! I didn’t think to even alert you to the car, but you just fucking flew right over it! You might have even put a dent in it ha!” Ray laughed, coming up to stop beside Gavin.

“I flew over it?” Gavin asked, dumbfounded.

“Yeah man, that’s what it’s called when your wings flap and you leave the ground. Never thought I’d have to explain that to a bird” Ray chuckled as he continued down the path to the house.

Gavin had forgotten that the herd didn’t know about his flying deficiency

“Wait, how did you know the car was coming?” Gavin asked, padding to reach Ray a few steps ahead.

“Ears, dude. I get flack all the time for being a rabbit with glasses, but really our skill is with hearing” he chuckled. Gavin bobbed his head.

“I didn’t even know you were able to run that fast”

“First I have to explain flying to you, and now that hares are _fast_? You need to watch animal planet some time” Ray snickered, cutting across Gavin's path and heading up the footpath. Gavin hadn’t even noticed they had arrived.

“Honey, I’m home” Ray called as they entered, and Jack smiled at them from the kitchen where he was clad with apron and oven mitts.

“Hey boys, hope you’re hungry” jack beamed, pulling a hot dish out of the oven and setting it down on the range.

“You bet I am. I kicked Gavin’s ass in a race and I need to re-fill the tank” Ray said, picking up his DS off the coffee table and dropping down onto a couch long ways.

“Shoes off the furniture!” Jack chided, then added “did you warn him how fast you are first?”

“He has wings. He lept a car for Christ’s sake” Ray shrugged.

“You weren’t racing on the street, were you?” Jack rumbled with an unimpressed tone

“No, Ray just didn’t let me know there’s was a car about to come barrelling out of a concealed driveway. I had to act fast” Gavin said

Jack chuckled, shaking his head as he continued preparing dinner.

“This will be ready soon, could you go grab Geoff from the study? It’s the door right at the end of the hall at the top of the stairs” Jack said, giving Gavin a wink.

“Sure” Gavin smiled, heading down the hallway.

The house looked two stories, but the staircase was only five steps tall leading to the ‘second floor’, and there was an attic above that the same height as a regular floor, plus the celling space open to the attic on top of it.

Gavin headed up the stairs and down the corridor. The only door on the left led into the bedroom, which was _huge_ , almost bigger than the Livingroom. Gavin had glimpsed a peek inside on Saturday when using the bathroom which was on the right side wall opposite the bedroom.

The bedroom was bright and open, a huge window on the far wall the same width as the _enormous_ custom made bed the five men shared. Along the walls were mostly chests of drawers, each man having his own one (though he had been told clothes seemed to end up in any of them if the sizes were similar, making it hard to pinpoint the owner)

On the right wall of the bedroom was a door leading through a walk in closet into an en suite bathroom. Apparently the one room had once been two, but Geoff had done some renovation when the herd had grown.

Passing the bedroom and guest bathroom, Gavin also passed the guest bedroom to the left of the bathroom. It was a small room with a single bed, but Michael said Ryan sometimes slept in there when his insomnia was bad and he didn’t want to disturb the others with his tossing and turning.

And then at the end of the hall was the study. The door was open slightly, but Gavin knocked before pushing it open further.

Geoff looked up from where he sat at a desk in front of a computer, pencil still in his mouth where he chewed on the end of it.

“Hey Geoff, Jack says dinner will be ready soon” Gavin smiled, looking around the room more.

“Oh, sweet, I can smell it from here and I don’t know how much longer I can hold out” Geoff grinned, setting down his pencil and collecting the papers spread out beside him, making a pile and then closing some programs on the computer screen.

“Ray said he was going to walk with you from the studio you were at, did he find it ok?” Geoff asked as he put the computer to sleep.

“Yeah, I didn’t know he was coming so it was a nice surprise” Gavin said “and for all intents and purposes; I won the race, no matter what he says”

Geoff gave a hearty laugh, clapping Gavin on the shoulder as he moved past.

“Why don’t I believe that? That boy is too fast for that to be the truth” Geoff snickered

“It’s true! I ended up jumping a car which technically put me ahead, and he didn’t try running after that so I must have won” Gavin grinned. Geoff gave another hearty laugh, and the way the noise seemed to explode out of him made Gavin join in.

Geoff thumped on the bedroom door as they passed.

“Foods ready, Ryan” he called through the door. A sleepy groan of protest was heard in reply as they continued down the stairs and into the front room.

Gavin sat down at the table beside Ray who seemed to have migrated from the couch.

“That looks amazing” Geoff said to Jack, wrapping his arms around the lion-brid’s waist and pecking him on the cheek. Gavin felt a small feeling of warmth in his chest, and turned when he heard the front door open and saw Michael come in.

“Honey, I’m home” Michael announced, followed by Ray complaining that he had stolen his bit.

“No fighting or it’ll be spankings for everyone” Geoff rumbled, sitting at the table and ignoring Ray’s ‘daddy’ remark.

“Hey boi” Michael greeted Gavin as he passed, messing up his hair before dropping into his chair beside him. Gavin grumbled, straightening his hair, but he looked down at the table to hide the way he was blushing. He was behaving like a schoolgirl with a crush, but he couldn’t hide his smile.

Ryan came into the room, dragging his feet sleepily as he pouted dramatically, but he gave Michael's shoulder a fond squeeze as he moved into the kitchen and started to set out plates and cutlery.

Jack set out the food and bottles of wine he had bought for the meal. He put a bottle of whiskey beside Geoff though, who smiled up at him with that key dopey look of his as the herd began dishing themselves food and pouring drinks.

It was a nice evening, chatting and joking, everyone laughing uproariously when Ryan flubbed his words or when Gavin accidentally knocked over Michael's drink making him rage at the bird. Gavin squawked when Michael put him in a head lock and gave him a hard noogie, but Geoff had distracted Michael by tugging on his tail that had sprouted and then threatening to head-butt him when he turned his claws to the ram-brid.

When they had finished eating they moved over to the lounge area, putting on a game of Mario kart and getting progressively more competitive and loud as Geoff got progressively tipsier. Gavin and Ray were sitting on the floor, legs crossed and leaning forward to the point of almost face planting during a particularly heated match while Michael cheered Gavin on from his place spread across Jack and Ryan’s laps on one sofa. Geoff was giggling on the other double seater as Ray and Gavin shrieked and squealed their way around the track until Ray ultimately beat Gavin and launched to his feet, holding his controller victoriously in the air.

“You can’t beat me!!! I am unstoppable!” Ray shouted, ears sprouting from the surge of pride as he whooped and hollered.

“This doesn’t mean you won the race today” Gavin laughed, getting up and dropping down beside Geoff on the sofa.

“I am unbeatable!” Ray hollered none the less as he headed out of the room down the hall.

“Wait, I need to pee!” Ryan called, manhandling Michael fully onto Jack so he could race after Ray in case he was also going to the bathroom. The men all laughed, the wine from dinner and the beer they had been drinking since then getting them all loose and giggly.

Geoff threw and arm around Gavin's shoulders, pulling him tight to the ram.

“You are a winner in my eyes, little gavvy-wavvy” Geoff giggled.

“Ray is super-human when it comes to videogames most of the time” Michael snickered. Gavin laughed in his way that usually resulted in no sound, feeling a little floaty from the alcohol in his system.

Geoff loosened his grip on Gavin enough to let the bird relax back in the chair more, slinging a leg over Geoff's and getting comfortable. Geoff pulled up the side of Gavin's shirt slightly.

“Well your guy’s bruises are looking almost gone now” he said. Gavin looked over at Michael. His cheekbone was nearly completely back to a normal human pallet now, and his own hip hadn’t given him any real grief since Sunday.

“if you don’t have work tomorrow you could crash in the spare room if you want. I’m still ok to drive, and Ryan definitely is obviously, but for conveniences sake” Jack offered. Gavin smiled and nodded, and Jack returned the smile.

“It’sh a sleepover!” Michael said, slurring the ‘s’ a little “we can braid your feathers and have pillow fights!”

The two lads giggled madly, and Jack rolled his eyes with a grin before nudging Michael to let him up and leaving the room.

“Jack, can we make a blanket fort?!” Michael called after him, making them break out into another fit of inebriated chortles. He got up, stumbling slightly as he hurried off down the hall in search of sheets for their hut.

This left Gavin and Geoff snickering on the couch alone. Geoff turned his head to look at Gavin with a grin, but then his look turned more thoughtful as he took in Gavin’s face with more concentration. Gavin just looked back at Geoff, watching the ram’s eyes trailing over his own face, pausing on his lips for longer than any of his other features.

Gavin subconsciously let his tongue dart out and wet his lips, which made Geoff look up into his eyes.

Gavin only just noticed Geoff's hand resting on his thigh as he started making small circles with his thumb on Gavin's leg.

“You know, I had thought that even Ray was pushing the limits of how big this herd could be, but you don’t make it feel strained at all. it's comfotable” Geoff said, voice quiet and calm.

“It’s nice, being part of something like this. It feels…” Gavin pondered, trying to find a word but getting caught in geoff's eyes and leaving it to hang.

Geoff slowly began to lean closer, his arm that had been resting on the back of the sofa coming down so he could cradle Gavin's cheek in his hand. He ran his thumb gently over Gavin's bottom lip, and the bird couldn’t help the way his lips parted slightly as his heart rate picked up.

Geoff let out a small breath before leaning forward the last little bit, pressing their lips together.

This kiss was different to the one he had with Michael, this less gentle and more hungry from the alcohol in their systems and Geoff's hand gripping slightly at Gavin's inner thigh.

Gavin wrapped his arm around Geoff's neck, pulling the older man closer till their bodies were pressed together.

Geoff captured Gavin's bottom lip in his teeth, pulling slightly and drawing a breathy noise from Gavin. This caught both of them by surprise, and Geoff couldn’t help the needy noise he made in return.

Gavin ran his fingers through Geoff's hair as they kissed passionately, tasting the whiskey and desire on Geoff's breath as he ran his hand up under Gavin's shirt and over his side.

“So damn skinny” Geoff chuckles when they take a small breath, before he dips down and mouths down Gavin's throat, tongue sliding over his smooth skin.

“Nnh, fuck” Gavin breathes, head tilting back and eyes closing.

He feels Geoff's hand on his side begin to trail down until he drags his palm over the bulge growing in Gavin's pants.

“Oh, _shit_ ” Gavin moans, curling forward slightly, cradling Geoff's head in his arms as the man continues to work at his neck, sucking marks their hungrily.

“God, Gavin, you make it so hard to go slow” Geoff rumbled, the dark heady tone in his voice going straight to Gavin's crotch, making him bite his lip hard to hold back the noise he can feel waiting in his throat.

“Then don’t go slow” Gavin breathes, looking down at Geoff. The ram lifts his head away from Gavin's neck so he can look into his eyes. Gavin can see the lust in them, made even more prominent by the strong buzz Geoff must be experiencing, but also a whole lot of control around it.

“As much as I’d love that, we agreed on a buffer period” Geoff breathed “I’m not going to throw caution to the wind and leave us regretting it tomorrow”

As much as Gavin wanted _more_ now, he could still agree that it would be ultimately better to stick to the plan. Despite the insistent nag in his pants

“Ok, keep it slow” Gavin agreed “just don’t stop kissing me”

Geoff gave his lopsided smile before bringing their lips together and drawing wanton noises from the bird using the hand on his groin.

Gavin is painfully hard, and Geoff's hand being so insistent on taunting him isn’t helping his control.

“Fuck, Geoff, you’re gonna need to ease up or I’ll cream my pants” he chuckled.

Only Gavin saw a devious glint in Geoff's eye, the ram continuing his tantalising motions against Gavin's bulge.

“I thought we were going slowly?” Gavin breathed, gasping at a particularly delicious motion

“Well, it’s not technically sex or oral, and i'd hate to blue ball you, so...” Geoff trailed off with a grin.

Gavin moaned, letting his head fall back again. They were more or less spread along the couch now with Gavin's head against the armrest and one leg across Geoff’s lap as he lent over him.

Gavin gripped at Geoff's shoulders, panting and trying to keep his keens quiet. He didn’t know if the others knew what they were up to, and despite them all being bonded he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed at the thought of them hearing.

Geoff put his mouth back on Gavin's neck, dragging his tongue down and over his collar bone before sucking harshly and nipping at the skin.

It didn’t take Gavin long to choke on a breath and come hard in his pants, a wet warmth spreading through the fabric of his boxers as he clung to Geoff.

When he finally melted back into the sofa Geoff pulled back slightly, looking down at Gavin with a grin.

Gavin whined in his throat as his eyes drooped sleepily.

“I’m all mingy now” he complained. Geoff just chuckled, sitting up and leaning back on the sofa.

“You’re cute when you come”

Gavin blushed as he grumbled.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep yet. Let’s get you showered and in bed” Geoff half mumbled, also feeling droopy now.

Together they got up and stumbled to the bathroom. Geoff sat on the toilet lid, chin in his hands and eyes closed, dosing as Gavin peeled out of his clothes and quickly showered all the muck off.

He heard a muffled noise from Geoff, and when he pulled back the shower curtain he saw that someone had thrown a towel at Geoff before leaving again.

Gavin took the towel from Geoff, still covering himself with the curtain, and dried himself off behind it.

Wrapping the towel around his waist, Geoff shoved Gavin's clothes in the hamper and then they wandered out of the bathroom and over to the spare room.

The house lights were off, the only other light coming from the main bedroom, making finding the door that was only half a meter away difficult for their sleepy drunk brains.

But Gavin managed to make it into bed, haphazardly pulling the duvet over himself before he was quickly falling asleep.

The last thing he was aware of was a gentle caress of his cheek before he was gone for the night.


	6. Sugar For The Glider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy it's lil J!
> 
> also if you aren't reading this fic for smut, just for story, skip the rest of the chapter after jack and jeremy leave, its just smut that won't affect future reading if you miss it

Gavin grumbled through his nose, rubbing his temple as he propped himself up on an elbow to look around the room.

He was only confused for a moment before remembering he had stayed in the spare room after getting a bit tipsy after dinner

_And letting Geoff get you off in your pants_

Gavin plopped back down against the pillow, throwing an arm over his eyes as his cheeks flushed warmly.

If he had thought he was embarrassed last night, he was even more so now. Had the others heard their drunk shenanigans, or had they all receded into the bedroom before the pace really picked up

And if they had heard, would they give Gavin flack for it? Or would they pretend they hadn’t heard?

“Bugger me” Gavin breathed to himself, then sat up as he slung his legs over the edge of the bed.

He was also now alerted to the fact he had gone to bed in a towel and nothing else. He was half way through a curse before he noticed a small, neatly folded pile of clothes on a chair beside the door. They weren’t his, but when he picked up the boxer briefs off the top and held them out he could see they would fit fine.

Tugging up the slightly baggy jeans and adjusting the shirt he had pulled on, he headed along the hallway and down the stairs after dropping the towel in the bathroom hamper.

He was half way down the stairs when he heard a voice from an unfamiliar male coming from the kitchen, followed by Ray’s.

He slowed his pace, eavesdropping slightly to see if he might recognise the newcomer, but then he felt dumb.

The herd _obviously_ would know people he didn’t. They hadn’t introduced him to any of their friends or workmates, so expecting to know who was talking to Ray was stupid.

He moved into the front room to see Jack sitting at the table scrolling on his phone, and then looked over to one of the sofas where Ray and the stranger were sitting half curled around each other and looking at Ray’s DS as he played.

“Morning Gav” Jack said, and Gavin looked back over to where he was smiling at him. This also caught the other two men’s attention, who both looked up.

“Ayyy, look who’s finally awake! Someone had fun last night” Ray snickered, the other man also chuckling.

“Wot?” Gavin asked, feeling a little self-conscious at the other man apparently laughing at him in some way.

“You were pretty loud last night. On the couch. With Geoff” Jack said, grinning down at his phone as he continued scrolling.

Gavin felt his soul leave his body for a moment.

“Oh god, you guys heard that?!” Gavin squeaked, subconsciously crossing his arms across his torso with the hopes of somehow shielding himself from the embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it, everyone will forget by lunchtime” the man beside Ray said “I’m Jeremy, by the way. Ray told me about you, but I don’t know how much you’ve heard about me”

Gavin felt some kind of recognition for the name but couldn’t place it.

“He’s my boyfriend. I think Michael mentioned him, I can’t remember” Ray said absently, attention on his handheld.

“Oh, yeah, Michael said something about that” Gavin said, dropping down in a single seater “you were a … chinchilla?”

Ray laughed openly at Jeremy, who just grinned and shoved him slightly.

“Nah, I’m a sugar glider. Like a flying squirrel but cuter” Jeremy smiled.

“I knew a squirrel once; your ass is definitely better” Ray agreed. Jeremy beamed proudly, planting a kiss on the side of rays head. Gavin's head tilted slightly, curious.

“I don’t want to sound rude, but I’m kind of confused. I’d never heard of a bonded hybrid having relationships outside of the bond” Gavin said.

“It’s actually really rare, but it does happen” Jeremy said.

“I don’t really know how to explain how it works, what the dynamic is. It’s like normal dating, but… uh…” Ray trailed off, losing his train of thought.

“It’s like how when you bond it feels familiar and like it’s always been there in the back of your mind. But you can still feel attraction like before you were bonded” Jack offered.

“Yeah. I don’t know what bonding feels like, and I got quite a lot of grief from Geoff when Ray asked to date me, but I’m glad it all worked out” Jeremy said, nuzzling his face into rays neck.

“No homo though” Ray deadpanned while tilting his head into Jeremy’s and snuggling closer.

Gavin rolled his eyes with a small smile, catching a glimpse of the clock sitting on the mantel piece.

“Hey, don’t you have work today?” Gavin asked Jack.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to abandon you to the mercy of Ray so I hung around till you woke up. Jeremy also wanted to drop round and see Ray, so I said he could ride with me when I headed to work when you got up” Jack said.

“Well seeing as Ray almost got me flattened by a car yesterday, I’d say that was a wise decision” Gavin agreed, catching Ray's dramatic pout in his peripheral vision.

“We probably should be heading off now, though. Your clothes are in the dryer, they should be done soon, and then if I was you I’d flee before Ray ropes you into another dumb idea” Jack grinned, getting up from the table.

“I’d _never_ ” Ray said with a mock gasp.

Jeremy disentangled himself from Ray, giving him a quick peck after Ray refused to release his shirt and was being lifted from the couch as the glider-brid tried to straighten up.

“You should come down to the offices some time; see what your herd all do” Jeremy said with a warm smile.

“Yeah, maybe some time when I didn’t drink the previous night” Gavin grinned, rubbing his temple in a hope to sooth the dull ache beneath it.

Jeremy chuckled and then he and Jack left through the front door, Jack giving one last wave and smile as he shut the door behind him.

“You know, I’ve heard that a blow job is a great way to cure a hangover” Ray said mere moments after the door clicked shut.

“What, you wanna suck me off?” Gavin asked

“No, _giving_ head is the cure. Don’t be so selfish” Ray said, looking up with a grin afterwards.

Gavin chuckled, resting his head back and closing his eyes.

“I’ve never given head, so I don’t think it would be all that great for either party” Gavin commented.

“I can show you how”

Gavin opened one eye and tilted his head to look at Ray, who was watching over the top of his DS with intent eyes.

“No homo?”

“Full homo”

Gavin pursed his lips.

“Tempting, tempting” he said, closing his eyes again. He heard Ray get up and move over to him, then felt Ray’s hands on his thighs. Gavin opened his eyes to see Ray kneeling in front of him, eyes locked on his.

“It’s actually easy once you get used to it” Ray said, voice as neutral as his face. Gavin swallowed slightly, the sight of Ray between his legs and watching him fixedly already sending ideas to his groin.

“I-I have a really bad gag reflex” Gavin stammered slightly

“I can show you how to beat it” Ray said as his hands ran slowly up Gavin's thighs till they reached the fly of his jeans. Gavin's eyes followed Ray’s fingers as they deftly undid the button and then ever so slowly pulled down the zip.

Gavin bit his lip as Ray pulled the front of Gavin's pants to the sides to reveal his cock already half hard.

“You’ve never given head; but have you received it?” Ray asked, voice smooth and low. Gavin just shook his head, eyes still watching the hare’s hands as they rested on either side of the bulge in his underwear.

Ray made a small click with his tongue, then leaning in close he let his breath ghost over Gavin's fabric covered cock.

“oh _fuck_ …” Gavin breathed, eyes squeezing shut and head tilting back slightly. The warmth and the feeling of Ray’s arms putting weight on his thighs was already making a strong heat grow in his pelvis. It was one thing to imagine such adventures when you are alone and jerking off. But to actually have someone so close to your most intimates?

Gavin's eyes shot open and he looked down when he felt Ray press an open mouthed kiss to cock, still tauntingly captured by the fabric. Ray’s eyes were resting gently shut as his hot breath and soft lips worked over Gavin's now _very_ hard cock.

“Fuck, _Ray_ …” Gavin groaned quietly, one of his hands reaching up to hold onto Ray’s shoulder of its own accord, the other still firmly gripping the arm of the sofa.

Ray pulled away and looked up at Gavin through his lashes, before slowly dragging down the waistband of Gavin's boxer briefs over his erection till it sprung free and rested on Gavin’s stomach.

“Mmm…” Ray hummed through his nose, slowly lowering back down again.

Gavin was holding his breath, eyes locked with Ray’s as he got closer, and then choked out a moan when Ray licked a wet stripe along the bottom of his cock from base to head.

“Nhhh  _f-fuck, Ray!_ ” Gavin sobbed as the hare took the head of Gavin’s cock into his mouth, running his tongue around the frenulum and then up along the slit, catching some pre-come.

Ray hummed again and the vibration sent a shock of sensation through the head making Gavin's back arch and his other hand come up to thread through Ray’s hair. He felt Ray smile, and then take more of Gavin into his mouth, slowly sinking down till his lips were around Gavin's base.

Gavin let out a long wanton moan as Ray took him in, and then gasped as he felt the head of his cock touch the back of Ray’s throat.

The wet warmth, the way that Ray was running his tongue around his length, the tightness in the back of his throat; it was driving Gavin crazy, he didn’t think he had ever been harder in his life.

“A-ahh, Ray, _please_ , nnhh…” Gavin moaned, unable to hold onto a single string of thoughts as Ray began to slowly move up and down his length.

His eyes were open but unfocussed, his mind lost in the amazing new sensations he was experiencing as he held onto Ray for dear life.

Ray made a particularly deep pass, swallowing as he took Gavin as deep as possible.

Gavin cried out as he found himself coming suddenly, spilling down the back of Ray’s throat, eyes rolled back and body arching off the couch.

It felt like Ray was milking him as he quickly swallowed down the release, and Gavin didn’t feel Ray pull away, only heard Ray chuckle quietly as Gavin slowly came back to himself.

“ _Sweet Jesus_ ” Gavin breathed, lifting his head to look down at Ray, still sat between his legs but resting his chin in one hand as he grinned at Gavin.

“Michael wasn’t lying when he said I suck like a vacuum” Ray smiled, drawing patterns with his finger lightly on Gavin's leg.

“Bugger me” Gavin sighed, flopping over so he was horizontal on the couch. Ray snickered, crossing his arms on the edge of the couch and dropping his chin onto them, face only a couple of inches from Gavin's.

“So I take it you liked it?” Ray asked with big eyes and a smile designed to seem innocent.

“My compliments to the chef” Gavin said with a laugh that only came out as a huff of breath.

“You aren’t falling asleep again, are you? Cause I was hoping we could make out until you’re clothes are dry”

“As if! You just swallowed my spunk, I don’t wanna taste myself!” Gavin said, scrunching up his face in distaste.

“Aww c’mon! Just a quick smooch?” Ray said deviously, pursing his lips and moving closer to Gavin.

“Bugger off!” Gavin laughed, planting a hand on Ray’s face and pushing him back.

“Spoilsport”

 

 

 


	7. Fire Exit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a quick warning that this chapter includes gavin having a panic attack, however it's followed by the herd being there for him and comforting him
> 
> also it's mentioned that geoff is only 38 in this fic. all of them are slightly younger than RL, i didn't know if that had come through in previous chapters

Gavin swung the door open to see Ryan standing there. The bull-brid smiled.

“Ready?”

“Yeah, I just need to grab my phone” Gavin beamed, padding over to the kitchen bench where his phone was charging. He unplugged it and flicked through a new email as he grabbed his jacket and returned to Ryan, closing the door and locking it.

He looked up to see Ryan eyeing Gavin’s phone with a frown, but it changed back to a smile near instantly when Gavin noticed it.

“So this bar, is it a generic bar, or is there something special about it?” Gavin asked, looping his arm through Ryan’s without invitation as they moved along the landing and down the stairs.

“It’s just a local place we go to relax after busy work weeks. Not a whole lot of non-brids frequent it, but it’s a chilled out atmosphere were anyone is welcome” Ryan said cheerfully as they headed over to his car parked on the curb.

Ryan also had a car, but it spent more time in the rooster teeth car park than at the Ramsey house. It was mostly used when they all couldn’t fit in the truck, or if they weren’t all going somewhere at the same time. Ryan had taken it from the offices to Gavin's apartment to pick him up for bevs while the others went straight to the bar.

Gavin slipped in the passenger’s seat, taking in the interior of the vehicle while Ryan got in behind the wheel. It was nice, _significantly_ more modern than Geoff’s truck but certainly not a 2016 model. It was nice to be in a car that didn’t shake like mad upon engine ignition.

“I’m not sure if you can smell it, but Michael is adamant it smells like wet dog in here, so apologies if it’s true”

“Why would it smell of dog?”

“Listen; you give a ride to one hitchhiker and you never hear the end of it” Ryan said with a grin as they headed off down the road.

While they drove Gavin picked back up a topic that had barely been discussed during the date night.

A simple scenario involving some coins had spurred a strong reaction from Ryan, and Gavin loved the way Ryan flubbed when the bull got frustrated with something.

And Ryan definitely delivered, almost instantly being just as annoyed as he had been when they first discussed it and flubbing almost immediately.

They were both adamant about their opinions on the subject, and Gavin would defend his, but he was also seeing how worked up he could get Ryan and enjoying every second if it.

“Thank god; were here!” Ryan rumbled.

Gavin looked out his window and took in the rather glum looking exterior of the place. It was part of a block of brick buildings, painted a dark colour with patches that spoke of repainting over graffiti many times.

A plain brown door beneath a tired neon sign reading ‘bar’ were the only features indicating it wasn’t just a wall.

After Ryan found a place to park they got out and crossed the road, Gavin seeing geoff's truck parked further down the road.

The wall only extended into more building to the left, to the right it cut into a short, dead end alley. A few figures were chatting and smoking, hidden in the shadows where the streetlight didn’t reach.

Ryan pulled the door open, letting Gavin enter ahead of him.

This was a particular book you shouldn’t judge by the cover.

Inside was bright and warm, the sound of laugher coming from a distant corner and music playing from an old jukebox

The bar was quite large and open, the bar itself along the left wall as they entered and space to the right occupied by tables and booths. In the back left there was a large archway leading into an area with pool tables, and on the back right was a sign pointing down a hallway declaring the location of the restrooms.

A few collections of people were spread out at tables around the main space, a few individuals sitting on stools at the bar and a few people could be glimpsed playing pool.

Gavin noticed the herd sitting at a booth in the corner, laughing raucously at something. Michael looked over and noticed the two men, grinning and waving them over. Gavin smiled and took Ryan’s hand, moving over to them.

“Ayyy, you made it!” Michael cheered, scooting along the seat to let the newcomers sit and consequently squishing Ray further in the corner, who moved around to sit beside Jack more.

The cat-brid threw an arm around Gavin, squeezing him close before pushing a beer across the table to him.

“We got you a diet coke, Rye” Jack said, sliding the can across the table into Ryan’s hand.

“Am I that predictable” Ryan chuckled, popping the tab and taking a swig with a exaggerated blissed out expression.

“So how was work today?” Gavin asked, taking a swig of his drink.

“We made Jeremy eat a candy that had been sitting on my desk for months now” Geoff giggled before taking a mouthful of whatever kind of alcohol was in his glass. Probably whiskey.

“You better now make him burn his mouth out again” Ray said “he wouldn’t blow me for 2 weeks after that”

Geoff grumbled in his throat.

“You’re lucky I don’t castrate him” Geoff said into his drink while the rest of the herd laughed.

“If you really felt that strongly you would have fired Jeremy the second he asked to date Ray” Jack chuckled.

“I’m not going to fire my mate’s boyfriend, I’m not an asshole, but that doesn’t mean I can be upset about it. Leave an old man to his bitterness” Geoff said.

“You’re 38, Geoff” Ryan said

“I’m older than all of you _and_ a man, which makes me an old man” Geoff replied, but he was smiling despite his attempts to hide it behind his glass.

“What did you do today, Gav?” Michael asked.

“Not much. The production I’m working on doesn’t start till Monday so I just hung around my apartment”

“he’s cheating on you with that Siamese” Ray shot to Michael making everyone erupt with laughter as Michael presented, ears going back and tail swishing behind him where it was cramped up against the seat.

“I’ll kill that little asshole” Michael rumbled “I’m the only cat that Gavin should be showing that much affection too”

“What about Jack?” Gavin asked. Michael’s anger fell, and then he grinned with a snicker.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that” he laughed. Gavin reached up, scratching Michael behind the ear. The cat began to purr, eyes slipping shut and head tilting toward Gavin as the others snorted with laughter

“Don’t you dare lay a claw on Smee” Gavin cooed, Michael making a small mewing noise and nuzzling against Gavin's shoulder.

They talked and drank (though not as much as they had at the date night) for a few hours, everyone winding down and letting loose. They had all ended up presenting by the time Gavin became aware he needed to use the bathroom.

Ryan was unimpressed with Gavin climbing over him, using one horn as a handle to support himself. He had put his wings away, but he still wasn’t very graceful.

He headed across the room and down the hallway towards the restrooms. The facilities were also to a decent standard, clean enough and nicely lit. He dealt to his needs and then headed out into the hallway to go back to the booth.

Only as he came out into the corridor, he saw to large figures at the bar end of the passage, facing away from him and talking.

Gavin didn’t know who they were, but he still felt intimidated and fell into his pattern to avoid confrontation at all costs. Thankfully there was a fire exit at his end of the corridor. All he had to do was follow it outside, go around to the front and come back in the main door.

Easy

He pushed on the bar that opened the door, and peering out he recognised it as the alley to the right of the entrance. There was only one man against the far wall, leaning and smoking. The man didn’t look up when Gavin had opened the exit, so the bird decided it would be fine to follow his plan.

The alley was super short anyway, so he would be back at the booth in minutes.

He stepped out into the cool night air, letting the door shut behind him. He pushed his hands into his pockets and began to head out of the alley.

“Hey”

The hair on Gavin's neck stood up as he turned his head to see it was the man who had spoken to him, still leaning on the wall but his head had lifted to look at him. He was in the shaded side of the alley so Gavin had no idea what he looked like.

“Yes?” Gavin asked, trying to sound neutral and not appear rude.

“You got the time, mate?”

Gavin relaxed slightly.

“Uh, yeah” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket enough to see the clock at the top of the screen but not enough to show it to the stranger. He didn’t want to tempt fate.

“It’s 11:30” Gavin said.

“Cheers” the man said, raising his cigarette slightly in a motion of ‘thankyou’ before looking down again.

Gavin let out a silent sigh, relieved. He turned to go back to his plan and had only taken half a step before the guy spoke up again.

“Wait, aren’t you the bird-brid I saw sitting in the corner booth?”

Gavin couldn’t draw any intention from the way the man spoke.

“Yeah, I’m with the group of hybrids” Gavin said, still trying to be polite but also letting the man know he wasn’t alone.

“Relax, mate, I just wanted to say I think it’s pretty cool. Y’know, that you can fly and stuff. That must be a real kick” the man said.

Could he sense Gavin's tension? Either way Gavin was going to hold onto this idea the man had that he could fly properly.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a pretty awesome sensation” Gavin said, adding what he hoped looked like a genuine smile.

The man pushed away from the wall now, moving forward into the light. There was nothing remarkable about his appearance, nothing Gavin could really identify him by.

“My aunt was a hawk, she would take me up in the air when I was really little” the man said, a gentle smile on his face. If his aunt was a hawk, there was a good chance he was also a hybrid.

“yeah, my mum would fly me too when I was a kid” Gavin said, feeling a little more comfortable but still wanting to get back inside to his herd.

“Do you think I could see your wings? I don’t want to seem rude, I just haven’t seen many bird-brids close enough to ask” the man asked.

Welp, so much for that; Gavin was on edge again. Now he really wanted to return to the booth. He wouldn’t have to worry about things like this with a ram, bull and lion nearby.

“Oh, uh, I kinda need to get back inside to my group” Gavin said, adding a small apologetic smile.

The man’s smile fell for a moment before returning, feeling a lot less genuine.

“Hey now; no need to be rude. I’m sure you can spare me a few seconds to admire your wings?” the man said, and Gavin realised he was quite close now, having been moving slowly forward as they spoke

Red flags were shooting up in Gavin's mind, and he didn’t know which would be better for him; to try and make another excuse and leave, or to just show the man and get it over with.

He apparently didn’t decide fast enough, because the man’s smile turned to a glare and his arm snapped out, grabbing Gavin's arm and yanking him close.

Gavin yelled, wrapping his hand around the man’s wrist and trying to free his arm.

“Your momma must have never taught you proper manners. I asked you politely, little bird, and you are being rude to me” he hissed.

“Please! You’re hurting me!” Gavin gasped.

The man shoved Gavin backwards, the bird hitting the brick wall and the man getting in his face again, one hand holding Gavin's neck while the other latched onto Gavin's other bicep.

“If you don’t want me to hurt you, maybe you should have considered my feelings” the man spoke into Gavin's ear.

Gavin's heart was racing, his breath heaving with terror. He had no advantage over the man who was both taller and more muscled, hands effectively placed to control Gavin's manoeuvrability.

Gavin's fear response kicked in and his wings sprouted, pressed up against the brick.

The man was quick, flipping Gavin around and moving his hand from Gavin's arm to his wing, holding it far too tight and sending pain flaring through the delicate appendage.

Gavin cried out, hands scrabbling against the wall as his brain locked down compartments, overriding his need to thrash in order to minimise damage to his wing from it twisting.

“See? That wasn’t so hard” the man rumbled, hand gripping tight around the back of Gavin's neck.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Gavin’s face was pressed against the wall so that he was looking the wrong direction, but his heart skipped a beat as he recognised Geoff’s voice, now sharp and full of rage.

The hands holding Gavin loosened enough that Gavin's brain eased up on its hold and let him turn his head to see the herd standing there, fury in their eyes and power in their stances. The gents stood in front, Michael just behind them and Ray slightly further back but with equal anger in his face.

“The fuck?” the man asked, stepping away slightly and releasing Gavin enough for him to pull his wing free and sink to the ground, knees giving out from under him.

He felt his mind disconnect slightly, only aware of shouting around him that sounded distant and echo-y, the cold brick against his fingers and shoulder. His chest was still heaving, his vision swimming as his heart raced on ahead of the rest of his body.

He didn’t know how long he was lost like this, but slowly things began to come back to him.

A gentle hand on his jaw, thumb stroking gently against his cheek. Soft murmurings and encouragements.

_…it’s ok…_

_…everything’s going to be ok, he’s gone…_

_…come back to us, Gav, we’re here now…_

“J-Jack?”

His voice was small, he didn’t recognise it.

“I’m here, honey, we’re all here with you”

Gavin blinked a few times, clearing his eyes until he could take in Jack kneeling in front of him. Gavin was still knelt leaning against the brick, which felt less cold against his skin.

“G-G-Geoff?” Gavin stuttered.

“I’m right here” Geoff's voice came from over his shoulder, close enough that Gavin could probably reach out and touch him.

The fear still lingering in Jack’s eyes dissipated more, his concern and care coming through.

“Can you move sweetie?” he asked gently. Gavin felt stiff, like he hadn’t moved in weeks. He slowly brought his hand up the wall till it was in view. His skin looked pale, like the colour had been drawn from it.

“I… I-I think so” Gavin said quietly. He slowly moved his hand away from the wall, reaching towards Jack who met him halfway, gently taking the bird's hand in his and then bringing it to the lion’s chest. Gavin felt the man’s heart beating under his jacket and felt a wash of relief from it for some reason.

Gavin felt the tear as it left a stripe down his cheek, and then he surged forward into jacks arms, clinging onto his jacket and burying his face into the man’s neck.

“I’ve got you, Gav, I’ve got you” Jack shushed, manoeuvring so he was sitting with his back against the wall, wrapping his arms around the shaking man curled in his lap.

Gavin couldn’t hold back the tremors that moved through his frame. His chest heaved every few seconds with silent sobs and Jack rubbed his arm soothingly.

“I-I thought it would be faster to g-go around and back in the f-f-front door” Gavin stammered, teeth chattering with his quaking body.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetie. Nothing that happened here is your fault” Jack spoke gently, rocking slightly to help sooth Gavin.

After a few minutes Gavin looked out. Michael and Ray were kneeling side by side to Jack’s left, Geoff to the right and Ryan crouching in the centre. They all smiled softly at him, and Gavin felt a surge of reassurance to see them all there, to know they were all so ready to come to his aid. Sure; 5 versus 1 isn’t much of a challenge, but it was still a great feeling.

“T-this is the second time you’ve saved me” Gavin said with a small smile. The tension that seemed to melt from the herd shoulders was thick, and their eyes all seemed to shine a little brighter with that sign that Gavin was coming back to himself.

“We’ll always be here for you, from the second we bonded till the day we die” Geoff said

“I’ve got claws for a reason” Michael agreed with a grin.

Gavin smiled, letting out a sigh of tension.

“Can we go home now?” he asked, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand.

“Of course” Jack said, pressing a kiss to the top of Gavin's head before the herd helped them to their feet. Gavin realised he hadn’t put his wings away yet, but he was still to tense to stop presenting just yet.

Michael and Ray stood on either side of Gavin, looping their arms with his as the herd headed out of the alley. Ryan headed to his car while the rest of them took the truck back to the Ramsey house, Ryan pulling up to the curb in front of the house moments after they pulled into the driveway.

Gavin felt kind of shaky as he crawled out of the car after Michael. He was endlessly grateful when the lads took up their sides again, walking with him behind Geoff up to the house and then into the front room.

The familiar smell and location took another edge off of Gavin's mind, helping him to put his wings away, but it also made him realise how exhausted he was.

No one said anything, they all just seemed to be on the same wave length as they headed up the stairs to the bedroom.

Gavin didn’t really think much as Ryan helped him shed his jeans before the herd all crawled into the bed together.

It was a little tight with an extra person, but it was exactly what Gavin needed, to feel his herd all around him, limbs curling together as Jack spread the blanket over them all and pressed up against Geoff at the edge of the bed.

With Gavin in the centre of his mates, Michael and Ray on either side, Ryan and Geoff on either side of them and Jack beside Geoff, it didn’t take long for his fatigue and the gentle thrum of their breathing to take over and send him under.


	8. Needing You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again i wrote a chapter with smut in it.
> 
> its the last half of the chapter and if that isn't your thing then stop reading when you reach your limit and you won't miss any vital parts of the storyline
> 
> and if smut IS your thing, then go forth and enjoy children, mama heart has got you covered
> 
> next chapter will not feature smut and get on with the story again

Gavin spent all of Sunday at the Ramsey house, sitting on the couch with Jack watching TV or stretched out with Ray while he played his DS.

He felt kind of flat, shaken from the previous night but not lost in his mind.

The herd was also slightly more sedate than usual, not as loud or rough. It had been a shock to all of them; seeing the man’s hold over Gavin and the way the bird had crumpled under the stress.

Gavin could feel a layer under Geoff's mood, something that felt angry. Apparently Ryan had to hold Geoff back to stop the ram from breaking the attacker’s neck, who had fled quickly when faced with five angry hybrids.

Aside from Geoff's anger, there was clearly something eating at Ryan. The shadows under his eyes were deeper, he had barely slept that night, and he was constantly lifting his head to make sure he hadn’t lost track of Gavin despite his poorly veiled attempts to conceal it.

Gavin was obviously very safe in the house, especially with his mates all around him, but Ryan was vigilant none the less. Gavin had even returned from a trip to the bathroom to see Ryan’s leg bouncing quickly where he sat at the dining room table, the jiggling slowing and stopping when the bull was aware he had come back in one piece.

Gavin hated that Ryan was so strung out, that he felt compelled to keep tabs on him so adamantly. He felt guilty that his plan had made Geoff tense despite his efforts to keep it pushed down. 

He was sitting in the mammoth bed, the vast duvet pulled up all around him in a comforting nest, scrolling through Facebook on his phone when he heard a small knock at the door.

Gavin looked up to see Ryan standing in the doorway, a small smile on his face.

“Hey Gav, just wanted to know if you needed anything” he said. Gavin just smiled and patted the bed beside him.

Ryan shuffled over, climbing to sit on Gavin's left. Gavin lifted the blanket and tossed it over the bull as well. Ryan put an arm around Gavin, getting comfortable and then relaxing against the headboard. Gavin snuggled into him, resting his head against Ryan’s chest as he continued to scroll.

“I’m ok, Ryan. It’s alright to relax”

Ryan let out a weary sigh, resting his cheek on Gavin's head.

“Am I that obvious?”

“You are caring, and I love that, but I’m not going to shatter like porcelain if you lose sight of me while I take a dump” Gavin said. Ryan huffed a laugh

“Fair enough. But I’m teaching you how to throw a punch first chance I get” he said, and Gavin was glad to hear the smile return to his voice.

“Fair enough” Gavin said, putting down his phone and turning into Ryan more, resting his arm across Ryan’s middle.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Gavin feeling Ryan’s chest rise and fall with breath beneath his cheek.

“You really scared us” Ryan spoke quietly “You really scared _me_ ”

Gavin tilted his head back to look up into Ryan’s eyes. The bull was looking down at the duvet bunched in his hand.

Gavin reached up, gently placing his hand on Ryan’s jaw and guiding the bull to look at him.

“I was terrified. I’ve had my fair share of ass kicking from bullies in my school years and those assholes when I met Michael. But last night? I think that was the first time I actually feared for my life” Gavin said, quickly continuing when he felt Ryan’s jaw tighten.

“But when I heard Geoff's voice? When I turned and saw you all so ready to defend me? That was something new. That was something amazing that I had never known I could feel and experience. I felt safe. I felt _loved_ ”

Ryan’s hand released the blanket, fingers wrapping around Gavin's wrist gently and then spreading to cover Gavin's hand on his jaw, pressing it closer as his eyes closed.

“Gav…” Ryan trailed off, voice barely a whisper.

Gavin pressed his lips to Ryan’s collar bone where the shirt had become skewed and pulled aside slightly. He pulled himself closer and extended his neck to press another kiss to his neck. The bull made a breathy noise as he exhaled, eyebrows knitting together and mouth opening slightly. Gavin turned Ryan's face more so he could bring their lips together.

Ryan moved his hand to cradle the back of Gavin's head, more force and desperation behind the next kiss.

Gavin slipped his leg across Ryan’s, pulling himself up to straddle Ryan’s lap. Ryan’s arm trailed down to rest across Gavin's lower back, pulling the bird closer and pressing their bodies together.

Their kissing broke apart for a moment, both of them breathing heavily with eyes closed, arms and hands clinging to each other like it was the only thing holding them to the face of the earth.

Gavin gave a small moan as Ryan hungrily took his mouth again, tongue slipping out to slide against Gavin's like it was the sweetest taste he had ever experienced. Ryan groaned in the open kiss, leaning forward and supporting Gavin as he was tilted backwards slightly.

Gavin let a needy noise slip from his nose as Ryan trailed his kisses across his jaw and down his throat, the bird’s head tipping right back with eyes closed as he pressed their bodies as close together as possible.

“Ahh, Ryan…” he breathed, cradling the bulls head to his chest without restricting his motion. Ryan let his hand slip under Gavin's shirt, dragging his fingers up the smooth skin of Gavin's back then around to slip down his chest and stomach.

“Fuck, Gav...” Ryan breathed.

“I need you” Gavin whimpered, rocking his hips slightly to press his pelvis to Ryan’s.

Ryan’s exhale of air caught in this throat, a noise drawing up from his chest.

“God, _Gav_ …” Ryan groaned, fingers pulling at Gavin's skin slightly when the bird gave another rock of his hips.

“ _Please_ Ryan, _hhahnnn_ …” Gavin whined, a noise slipping out as Ryan’s nails bit at his skin slightly.

Ryan pressed another kiss to Gavin's collar, mouth opening and teeth pressing against his skin gently but with enough force to send of a jolt through Gavin's nerves making his hips buckle of their own accord.

Ryan made a deep rumble in his chest before supporting Gavin again, rising forward until Gavin's back was on the bed and the bull was hovering above him.

Gavin looked up at him with hooded eyes, hips still rolling slowly with need.

“ _Rye_ …” he breathed before Ryan pressed their lips together, pulling on Gavin’s bottom lip with his teeth and twisting his tongue around the birds. His hands gripped at Gavin's waist, his own hips rolling down to press their cocks together, both painfully hard despite the clothes keeping them separated.

“ _Please..._  fuck me rye... I need to feel you” Gavin keened when Ryan pulled back to take in the hot flushed form of Gavin below him. Ryan bit his lip, trying to find restraint.

“You’ve never had sex with someone before?’ he asked. Gavin shook his head, balling the duvet in his fists either side of his head. Ryan’s eyebrows pressed together more as his eyes closed for a moment.

“I… I could hurt you…” he said, to both Gavin and himself.

“We can go slowly, I’ll tell you if you do” Gavin said, hips still trying to roll up to Ryan’s, desperate for friction. Ryan looked strongly into his eyes.

“You promise to tell me if _anything_ doesn’t feel right?” he asked. Gavin bobbed his head, holding eye contact to communicate his promise and his confidence in Ryan.

The bull bit his lip, but then nodded his head, lowering back down to kiss Gavin again, hands running up Gavin’s arms to link fingers with the bird. He gave a particularly hard roll of his hips, making Gavin moan a high wanton keen into Ryan’s mouth.

Ryan sat up, stretching across the bed to the side table, reaching into the draw to produce a bottle of lube. Gavin felt his cock give a hearty twitch, back arching slightly then lowering back down to the bed.

Ryan sat the bottle on the bed beside him for now, turning back to Gavin as he pulled his shirt off over his head before reaching down to help Gavin out of his. Gavin reached up, trailing his hands from Ryan’s expansive chest down over his abs. he could feel the taut muscles pulling beneath the heated skin.

Ryan took hold of Gavin's shorts and boxers, pulling them both down his thighs at the same time and leaning to the side so he could properly pull them off Gavin's legs and toss them away.

Gavin made small noises as Ryan ran his hands from Gavin's shins, over his thighs and to his pelvis, stopping on either side of his hard member.

“ _Fuck,_ _rye_ …” Gavin whimpered, trying to lift his hips up but being held at bay by Ryan’s strong arms holding down.

“I need to prep you first, ok?” Ryan asked, his voice more controlled now but with need still present behind it.

Gavin just nodded, unsure what noise would come out if he tried to speak.

Ryan slowly guided Gavin's legs up till his thighs were pressed to his torso, Gavin spreading them slightly more in a way that felt more natural.

A noise rumbled deep in Ryan’s chest at the sight of Gavin laid out, eager and hard for him. He picked up the lube bottle, popping open the cap and squeezing some out onto his fingers. He rubbed them together for a few moments to warm the lube up, before reaching down and circling Gavin's hole with the tip of one digit.

Gavin gasped quietly, the wet friction setting his nerves alight. Ryan was watching his facial expression closely, confident with Gavin's reaction enough to slowly ease in one finger.

Gavin had fingered himself before, he knew some of what to expect, but one of Ryan’s fingers was like two of his, and the way he stretched around it was both delicious and bordering on an overload of stimulation.

“ _Ohhh, fuck, rye!”_ Gavin groaned, hands fisting in the blanket and eyes unfocusing from the pleasure. Ryan held for a moment, before pushing the digit into Gavin more and turning it slightly.

Gavin moaned and cursed, mouth hanging open and cock dripping pre-come onto his stomach. Ryan drew the finger in and out a few times, listening to the sweet noises it was drawing from Gavin, before being satisfied enough to add a second slick finger.

Gavin's breath caught in his throat, eyes flying open as he got lost in the bliss. Ryan’s other hand rested on Gavin’s chest, helping to ground the bird as he stretched him open, fingers scissoring slightly and pressing against Gavin's sensitive walls.

“ _Nnhh,_ rye, please… I need you in me… I need- _haahh!”_ Gavin cried out when Ryan’s fingers dragged against his prostate, the bundle of nerves being stimulated and sending a jolt up Gavin's spine. His cock was dribbling steadily now, and Ryan decided Gavin was prepped enough.

Gavin whimpered as Ryan pulled his fingers away, quickly undoing his pants and slipping out of them. Gavin eyed Ryan’s cock with pupils blown wide from lust. If he had though Ryan’s fingers were a challenge, he couldn’t imagine what his thick member would be like.

Ryan applied some fresh lube, stroking it evenly along his cock, before supporting himself over Gavin with one hand and lining himself up with the other.

Gavin felt a knot of nerves in his chest, momentarily worried Ryan might be _too_ big for him.

Ryan took one last look into Gavin's eyes for confirmation before slowly pressing against Gavin's entrance.

Gavin had to force himself to breathe, pushing back the urge to hold it as Ryan’s head slowly began to sink into him, finally passing the tight ring of muscle and slipping inside.

Gavin's hands shot up to grip at Ryan’s shoulders, eyes squeezing shut as he was stretched tight around Ryan.

“Are you ok?” Ryan asked with a strained voice, holding position for a second.

“Hhh-y-yeah, just give me a sec” Gavin breathed, giving Ryan a small smile to reassure him. He was right to think that Ryan's cock compared with his fingers was completely different.

After a few moments adjusting, Gavin gave a small nod that he was ready.

Ryan began to push in slowly, a long punched out noise escaping him as he felt each inch move into him.

“ _Fuhh_ … you’re so tight…” Ryan breathed, taking another moment for Gavin to adjust when he was finally seated fully inside his mate.

“So… b-big… rye…” Gavin said, cracking one eye open and smiling up at the bull.

Ryan readjusted slightly, lowering onto his elbow so their chests were almost pressed together, spreading his knees apart to lower his hips to Gavin more. The way it jostled Gavin and Ryan’s cock pressed inside him made him gasp and groan.

“ _Ahh_ , _fuck me_ , _please rye!_ ” Gavin whimpered, pressing his forehead into Ryan’s shoulder, the man starting to slowly thrust his hips forward and back, his heavy cock dragging deliciously inside of Gavin.

Ryan moved slowly at first, waiting for Gavin to really adjust to the stretch and sensation, before picking up his pace more, breathing heavily as he moved in and out of the man clinging to his shoulders.

Gavin was _gone_ ; babbling incoherently and making sweet wanton noises with every thrust and whimpering each time Ryan pulled back out slightly. Ryan was so big inside him, pressing and dragging over every inch of Gavin's being, with wonderful sparks of sensation when he passed over Gavin's prostate.

It didn’t take all that long for Gavin to reach his peak, the pressure tight in his groin.

“ _Ahh_ , rye, I-I’m gonna c-come…” Gavin warned, nails digging into Ryan’s strong shoulders.

“ _Fuck_ , me too” Ryan breathed, before whispering

“Come for me, Gavin”  

Both of them fell over the edge, Gavin with a sharp long cry and Ryan with a deep husky moan. Gavin lost track of where they were separated, feeling like they were both part of the same being.

He didn’t think he had ever come so hard, body rolling through the orgasm as colours danced in his eyes. He could feel Ryan shooting his hot come deep inside him as they clung to each other, sweat trailing over their skin and breath heaving.

They slowly began to come down from the high, Gavin's muscles slowly unlocking and his shoulders lowing back to the bed from where they had risen up. Some of Ryan’s weight was resting on Gavin, a little heavy but the bull was supporting enough of it that he wasn’t crushing the bird.

They lay there panting in the afterglow for a couple of minutes before Ryan propped himself up more, slowly and carefully drawing out of Gavin despite the small, sleepy whimper of protest the bird made.

Gavin clenched around nothing as Ryan sat back, eyes closing as he slowly rolled onto his side, his hips complaining from holding the strained position for so long.

He could feel Ryan’s release dripping from his hole slightly, and he heard some kind of plastic packet being torn open before a moist cloth of some kind gently wiped it up, another swipe of the cloth over his chest and stomach a few seconds later before the bed shifted and then Ryan lay down behind him, pressing up against Gavin's back and wrapping an arm around Gavin's middle.

Gavin lay his arm over Ryan’s, looping their fingers and feeling Ryan press a soft kiss to his shoulder before he drifted in post-sex slumber.


	9. No One Puts Smee In A Box

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no smut this chapter, totally SFW im afraid
> 
> ayyy stuff happens and people say dialogue while doing things
> 
> i already have a side fic for this AU planned, but I don't want to write it till i've finished with this one
> 
> only a few more chapters for this particular fic to go, but fear not, it will not be the last time we see our fave hybrid's as previously stated
> 
> go forth

Later that night at dinner Geoff asked Gavin if he wanted to move in.

“Wot, already?” Gavin asked around a mouthful of pasta.

“It _has_ only been a few weeks since, well, since we met you. But I think we all agree it wouldn’t feel rushed if you wanted to” Jack said.

“Yeah, you’re our boi, we don’t want you to have to keep calling that shit hole apartment your home” Michael said with a grin.

“It would mean you wouldn’t have to be paying rent for it, and we can celebrate with a circle jerk” Ray said, making a wanking motion in the air and then tossing his hand to signal ejaculation. The gents all rolled their eyes.

“It completely up to you of course, if it feels too soon then we can carry on as is” Geoff said.

Gavin pursed his lips, weighing up pros and cons. He could only think of one con

“What about Smee?”

“We can make you a nice scarf out of him” Michael said

“There _is_ more than one way to skin a cat, way number twenty five is quite entertaining” Ryan said, and then pouted dramatically when Gavin gave him a small glare.

“If Smee is happy enough to be relocated, and he doesn’t have an actual owner, then he can come too” Jack said, ignoring Michael’s jealous grumble.

Gavin looked around the circle of his mates before nodding.

“Yeah, that would be awesome” he grinned.

“Sweet; when’s the circle jerk?” Ray asked, everyone else now collectively eye rolling and finishing the meal.

On Tuesday Ryan and Jack took the day off to help Gavin move his few things, Ray tagging along but mostly just taking up space when he continued to stand in doorways, distracted by his flashing DS game and not noticing when people wanted to pass.

They put Gavin's bed in the back of the truck, having decided to store it in the garage in case required in the future.

The couch didn’t make it into the final selection, along with his DVD player and CRT TV monitor. Ryan took a trip with them to the rooster teeth offices to ditch there either for future disposal or potential burning during a free play stunt.

While Ryan was gone, Jack Ray and Gavin managed to charm Smee into the apartment with some wet food, putting him into a cardboard box with some holes stabbed into it and then tapping the top shut for added measure while the Siamese let out sad and confused cries and scratched at the inside of the box, trying to find the exit.

Gavin soothed the cat while they packed the rest of his things into the now returned truck. His kettle, microwave, bathroom gubbs and clothes. The food he had left in his apartment (which turned out to only be a couple packets of instant noodles and a small container of rice) was thrown in a box and brought along for good measure, then Gavin was handing his key over to the landlord who eyed up his mates but for once said nothing

And they were on their way to the Ramsey house, Gavin taking one last look back at that crap period of his life that he could finally lay to rest.

-

Gavin slid the lid off the decorative gift box to reveal another box underneath.

The crisp, sleek design of the IPhone packaging was unmistakable, and Gavin was confused for a second.

“Wait, you got me a phone?”

“New house new phone. Plus the crack across your old one was pissing off Ryan so this was mostly his idea” Jack said, sitting on the two-seater sofa with Ray, Ryan and Gavin each in single seaters.

“But you hate apple products?” Gavin said, turning his new confusion to Ryan. Ryan shrugged.

“Yeah, but you like it, and as long as _I_ don’t have to use it, I’ll tolerate being in the same vicinity as it” Ryan said with a smile.

Gavin felt his own smile spread on his face as he looked down to the gift, taking out the phone box and opening it. Someone had already opened it, because all the protection film was gone, and when he clicked the home button the screen lit up.

It revealed a wallpaper photo of his mates, all squished together as Ryan took a selfie with the IPhones front camera. They were all smiling, Michael’s mouth open and eyes squinted mid laugh and Ray making a sexual motion with his tongue between two raised fingers. Gavin laughed out loud in his trademark way that actually produced no sound other than squeaky breaths occasionally.

“I thought you didn’t want to use it?” Gavin giggled, looking up at Ryan then down at Ryan’s manic smile in the selfie.

“That was the only time so savour it. I wanted to put a app on it, and that was a by-product”

“What app?” Gavin asked

“You see that red button on the swipe screen?” Ryan asked. Gavin now noticed it, a second smaller swipe button underneath the generic one.

“Yeah?”

“If you swipe it, it will automatically send an alert to Jack, Geoff and I’s phones” Ryan explained.

“Geoff has asked to specify that it is for _emergencies only_ and _not_ for when you want a cup of tea but don’t want to get out of bed, or to summon him from the office for dinner” Jack said with a chuckle “we put one on Ray’s phone too when he joined the herd”

“Super racist” Ray commented

“If you don’t have claws or you can’t fly; then you get the panic button” Jack announced.

Gavin's heart skipped a beat.

“You… you know I can’t fly?” Gavin asked.

“Sorry bud. You haven’t flown _once_ in the weeks we’ve known you, and we came to the conclusion not long after we bonded to you actually” Ryan said, a gentle smile on his face.

“You were more surprised when you jumped that car than I was” Ray offered.

“We gave you a buffer period, in case you had strained your wing when the trio tried to attack you, but you haven’t mentioned flying at all since we’ve known you” Jack said

Gavin bobbed his head a few times. He had kind of forgotten this was a thing they would be discussing eventually, but now thinking about it a bird that never flew or spoke about it would become a topic eventually.

“I’ve never been able to get very far off the ground or for very long. That car incident was actually the best I’ve ever done” Gavin admitted “that was kind of the reason I had such a hard time at school. I presented at 18, and I’m just as grounded as I was then” he added.

Jack nodded thoughtfully.

“Have you ever had, like, lessons? Is that a thing that’s available to bird-brids?” Ryan asked. Gavin shook his head.

“Not really. Bird is usually a recessive gene; you normally have an immediate family member who is also a bird-brid, so you learn and get taught by them. I just never got the hang of it” Gavin gave a small huffed laugh “my mum used to say I had two left wings”

There was a moment of relaxed silence until Smee pawed at the front door, meowing for attention. They had left the cat to familiarise itself with the new house, and this was his first real indication that he wanted to go out.

“Dude; go rub on all of Michael’s stuff! You are missing a great opportunity to stake your claim!” Ray chastised, throwing up his hands with exasperation. Gavin laughed, getting up and letting Smee out.

“You can go back to the apartment if you want” Gavin said to the cat, who just stared out the door for a few moments before rubbing against Gavin's leg and heading back into the house. Jack chuckled behind him as Gavin shut the door again, moving over to Ryan and leaning down to peck him on the cheek.

“Thank you for the phone. I, however, do not agree to the ‘emergencies only’ clause and you were a fool to think I would” Gavin grinned.

“Hey; I don’t care, it’s Geoff who said that!” Ryan defended himself, grinning back as Gavin shuffled over to also give Jack a kiss, smooshing Jack’s cheeks in his hands before quickly pressing his lips to Jack’s pursed ones.

“And thank you also for helping me move” he smiled, then added “you too, Ray, though I don’t know how much actually help you gave”

“Moral support” Ray declared, pumping a fist in the air once before letting it flop back down onto the couch. Gavin smile, clicking the screen on again to take another look at the selfie, the red button in his peripheral vision.

He hoped it would just end up being one of those things you stop noticing because its always there and you never need to use it.

-

“Again”

Gavin groaned, rolling his wrist.

“I thought the panic button meant I didn’t need to do this” he whinged.

“The button will let us know where you are, but it won’t shank a motherfucker that is trying to steal your wallet” Ryan said, before lifting up punching bag again.

“Less complaining, more solid punching” Geoff commanded, pinching Gavin's ass and making him squawk in surprise and try to slap Geoff in the shoulder. The ram caught his wrist though, bringing up his other hand in a dramatic slow motion swing stopping an inch from his face.

“Punch that bag or I’ll use your face” Geoff said, giving a small wink before turning Gavin back to the bag.

Gavin sighed, squaring his shoulders and bring up his fists like they do in movies and MMA shows. He hopped side to side a bit, trying to channel his inner karate sensei before throwing a few more pitiful punches at the black plastic material covering what he could only imagine was lightly padded concrete.

“Try to hold your shoulders firm when you punch, don’t move them with your arm” Ryan coached, Geoff putting his hands on Gavin's shoulders to hold them in place while he tried to have impact from the new position.

“Don’t use all your knuckles; your wrist shouldn’t curve like that, only use these ones” Geoff said, holding Gavin's wrist and rubbing the first two knuckles. Gavin pouted, trying again but refusing to admit it did feel better and more effective like that.

They gave him more pointers, bringing up his offensive abilities from a toddler to the same toddler wearing slightly aerodynamic gloves.

“Can I tap out now? Ray?” Gavin panted, looking over to the hare sitting in a lawn chair, eyes closed and relaxing in the midday sun.

“Nah son” Ray deflected, changing which ankle was on top where they crossed over and wiggling his nose.

“You do know it’s your turn next, right?” Geoff told him.

“No hablo ingles” Ray said, not even raising his head. Geoff rolled his eyes.

“Fine; take a break Gav” he said, then muttered “for someone who doesn’t speak English he certainly sends me a lot of English memes”

Gavin moved over to Ray, dropping down in the other fold out chair squatting on the small rectangle of concrete in the backyard.

You couldn’t really call it a backyard, just a small square of grass with a tree near the back corner and a patch of concrete against the back of the house featuring the two chairs and an old barbeque that probably hasn’t been used since before Gavin was born. There wasn’t even a back door; you had to walk down the side of the house to get to it.

Suffice to say the herd didn’t use it very much, mostly just for gatherings or Michael and Geoff’s drunken shenanigans. Jack made sure it stayed tidy though, keeping the grass mown and leaves raked when the season for the tree to shed itself came around.

“If I can’t fly, what makes them think I can deck someone with enough force to scare them away” Gavin complained to Ray, who just snorted.

“Just drop to the ground and assume the foetal position. It’s gotten me out of doing dishes a number of times. If that doesn’t work go limp and play dead until you get the results you want”

“How will that save me from a mugger?”

“I mean when the gents want you to do something” Ray clarified.

“Get over here, Ray, it’s your turn” Geoff rumbled.

“ _You aren’t my real dad!”_ Ray whined with an exaggerated voice, quickly getting up and darting back around the house when Geoff rushed him, chasing after him.

Gavin snickered, stretching out his limbs and then going floppy in the chair, enjoying the relaxing sun on his skin and face.

He heard Ryan plop into the now vacated chair, and Gavin turned his head to look at him.

“Tell me doctor; will I ever play the violin again?” he asked, raising his arm with his hand hanging limp, shaking it a bit for emphasis.

Ryan scoffed a laugh, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Gavin looked over his face, taking in his features from the side.

“You look more rested” Gavin commented, the calm of relaxing in the sun in his voice. Ryan hummed through his nose.

“It’s been easier to sleep the last few days. What with you moving out of that dump and knowing you are actually eating properly now” Ryan said “you really are too thin; you needed a proper meal schedule”

“And I’m endlessly thankful for Jack's cooking and tender loving care” Gavin grinned, resting his head back and letting his eyes slip closed. He let out a deep contented sigh.

He could hear the sound of Ray’s complaining approaching, and raised his head to see the other two return to the backyard, Ray slung over Geoff’s shoulder and trying to wriggle free, ears sprouted and small puff of a tail twitching madly under his shirt.

“Time to take some responsibility, you can't run from your problems forever” Geoff rumbled.

“Watch me!” Ray announced “I’m a hare; it’s in the job description!”

Ryan sighed, dragging himself to his feet and moving over to help Geoff get Ray to comply. Gavin just watched, amused with the proceedings.

“Unhand me peons, or I’ll be forced to release my mystic rodent powers!”

“Shut up and punch something!”


	10. Conclusions Happen To The Best Of Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some pre-chapter things;
> 
> its a /fukn/ long chapter, but i didnt want to break it up so appologies
> 
> IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH VIOLENCE, i will put two page breaks. everything between them is bad territory, but you can probably get away with not reading them. i can make a TL;DR if required, just drop me a comment and i'll add it
> 
> this is the last chapter FOR THIS FIC, but i have other fics for this AU planned that will come in all genres of /whatever/, from fluff to smutt to whatever else takes my fancy
> 
> idk mang, i'm just a simple turnip farmer trying to feed my 18 children

“God dammit, who used the last of the milk?”

Gavin looked up from his phone, cup of tea hovering by his lips as he paused mid sip. Geoff narrowed his eyes at him while Gavin grinned cheekily.

“Can you at least not put the empty bottle back in the fridge?” Geoff grumbled

“It wasn’t empty” Gavin contested. Geoff held up the bottle, tilting it so the teaspoon of liquid pooled in one corner. 

“See? Not empty”

“Fine, smart ass; you can go to the store and get more”

“Wot?!” Gavin squawked “it’s already getting dark!”

“He also hasn’t made much progress in our self-defence lessons” Ryan said absently while reading his book on the other sofa.

“Then I’m sure you won’t mind going with him” Geoff said, tossing the empty bottle into the trash and returning to what he had been doing.

Gavin refused to look up as Ryan’s eyes slowly lifted to glare a hole through Gavin's head, instead finding himself suddenly very interested in a patch on the sofa beside him.

-

“I hate you” Ryan grumbled as they wandered down the road, shoulders hunched up at the unusually cold weather that had been sitting over Austin for the past few days.

“Puh-lease; I know you’re totally head over heels for me” Gavin grinned, bumping his shoulder against Ryan’s arm. Ryan let out a huff that ended with a rumbling growl, but Gavin knew Ryan wasn’t really all that bothered.

“Trust Geoff’s truck to suddenly need a tune up. Had to be the day I left my car at work”

“Nah, this is great! A nice walk together, it’s top!” Gavin smiled, giving a small hop-skip to keep up with Ryan’s long strides.

“Oh definitely, _super top_ ” Ryan pouted, but a small smile greeted his face.

They made it to the shop and were not far from the door when Gavin saw a huddle of people up ahead. Three men stood chatting, drinking from bottles that probably contained beer and generally minding their own business.

Only Gavin recognised one of them.

“Wha-?!” Ryan began to say as Gavin suddenly grabbed his sleeve, pulling him quickly around the side of the building with him.

Gavin planted his back to the wall, eyes wide and chest beginning to heave.

_It was one of the trio that had attacked him the day he first met michael_

“Gavin? What the hell?” Ryan asked, then noticed Gavin’s tension and the way his fingers were turning white from gripping the wall hard “hey, what’s wrong?!”

“It’s… it’s _him_ ” Gavin panted “we need to go, we need to leave _now!_ ”

“Slow down! Who is it?” Ryan asked, placing his hands on Gavin’s shoulder’s to try steady him.

“One of the men who attacked me the night I first I met you guys!” Gavin wheezed “god; what if he’s already seen me!”

Ryan’s eyebrows pressed together, confusion and anger in his eyes. He lent to the side, taking a small peek around the wall.

“The men aren’t there anymore” Ryan said.

“w-what?” Gavin asked confused, leaning over too to have a look. The three men were gone, the area in front of the store void of anybody. Only Ryan and Gavin were still in the area.

“They left?” Gavin asked confused, looking around the car park and down the street.

“They might have gone into the store” Ryan said.

“Good; let’s go home before they turn up again” Gavin said, gripping onto Ryan’s sleeve.

“We still haven’t got the milk”

“Who cares?!” Gavin hissed “I’d rather live to see another day then risk getting my shit pushed in for flipping _milk!_ ”

“Look; no one is going to even _try_ touch you while I’m here or I’ll fucking gore them” Ryan said, holding Gavin's jaw in his hands to comfort him “they haven’t met me before so if I go in they will think nothing of it”

“You mean I should wait here _alone?!_ ” Gavin squeaked.

“I’ll be two seconds; hold on to your phone and use the panic button if they leave before me and try to approach you. I’ll be there in seconds” Ryan said “I’ll be back before you know it”

Gavin whimpered quietly, but nodded, pressing back up against the wall when Ryan released his face. Ryan gave him a reassuring smile before heading around into the store.

Gavin scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket, clicking the screen to life and hovering his thumb over the red button.

He strained his hearing to pick up every small noise possible, every hint of another person anywhere nearby.

He heard the store door jingle as it opened, holding his breath as footsteps approached his side of the building. He backed away along the wall, shrinking into the shadows near the back of the building. He kept going till he found the end of the wall, then ducked around the corner, only watching with one eye.

A person walked past, someone different that hadn’t been with the man he recognised. The stranger just walked down the path away from the store, not even looking Gavin's direction.

Gavin sighed a breath of relief, releasing his death grip on the corner of the building and letting his shoulders sag from their taut position. He looked around a bit, taking in the gross trash cans and scum sticking to the concrete alley behind the store.

And then he took in the sight of the three men, standing further down the alley watching him.

_Dear god no_

“well isn’t this a treat” the man Gavin recognised spoke, arms crossed and a dark grin on his face “I’ve been wondering when I’d see you again; I wanted to thank you for what your friend did” he added, pushing up the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal the dark, young scars marring his shoulder.

Gavin remembered the blood on Michaels hand, how he had said that he had taken ‘quite a chunk’ out of one of the trio’s shoulders.

_Why did this keep happening to him?_

* * *

 

Gavin was frozen for a moment before his brain kicked into gear.

“RYAN!” he cried, fumbling his phone as he tried to both turn to run and swipe the panic button, wing sprouting and instinctively beginning to flap to try fly himself to safety.

A hard grip grabbed his wing, yanking harshly and throwing him back, slamming him into the ground and cutting off his pained cry as the air was knocked from him.

“This is great!” the man roared, towering over him “we just came back here so I could take a piss, but this will be even better!”

“ _Ryan!”_ Gavin wheezed, scrabbling to reach his phone that had skittered away along the ground.

The man put his boot on Gavin's shoulder, pressing down hard and pinning him down. Gavin sobbed and gasped, clawing at the man’s pant leg with his talons. His wing was being pinched between his shoulder blade and the ground, the pain excruciating as it flared all through the limb and his back.

“this is payback, do you know how hard it was to explain my injury to the people at the hospital?” the man asked, leaning down closer and subsequently putting more weight on Gavin's shoulder. Gavin wailed, screaming at the overwhelming wave of pain

“I had to tell them a dog attacked me. They barely fucking believed me. Good thing they were all thick as pig shit” he continued over the sound of Gavin’s distress.

“ _Back. Away. Now”_

The man looked over his shoulder at the bull standing at the mouth of the alley, horns tilted forward and tail swishing angrily behind him.

“Fuck of mince meat; _my_ beef is with the bird” the man sneered. Gavin was still trying to claw at the man’s leg, tears of pain and terror rolling down the sides of his head.

“ _Back. Away. NOW!”_ Ryan roared, charging at the man.

The attacker dodged, swiftly stepping to the side and thankfully off of Gavin.

The bird quickly rolled over, talons skittering on the ground as he tried to pull himself up, but another pair of hands gripped his wings, holding him down.

Gavin could see now as Ryan tried to scare the men away, head swinging wildly, blindly trying to catch one of the men with his horns.

It felt like Gavin's soul split in half at the sight of one of the men snatching up a metal pipe sitting on the ground besides the building and raising it towards Ryan who was focused on Scars.

“ _RYAN!”_ Gavin shrieked, unable to warn him before the man struck Ryan, catching him at the juncture of shoulder’s and neck with the weapon.

Ryan made a strained noise as he crumpled to the ground, catching himself on his hands and knees before he fully hit the concrete.

The man who had hit him was quick, discarding the pipe with a sharp clatter on the pavement and grabbing Ryan, pulling his arms up behind his back and pinning them there, capturing him on his knees as Scars struck a swift punch to Ryan’s gut.

“ _No! Please!”_ Gavin screamed, held immobile by the hands on his wings that strangled his brain with warnings.

Scars paused before another strike, looking confused between Gavin and Ryan.

The bull was glaring at scars through his pained grimace, the opposite to Gavin's terrified expression.

Scars squinted slightly, before a look came over his face.

“Hold on; you called him Ryan. That means you know each other” Scars said.

“ _Get your hands off my mate_ ” Ryan spat. He let out an involuntary noise as Scars took hold on one horn, straining Ryan’s head back and exposing his throat.

“ _Mate?_ ” Scars chuckled, grinning darkly at Ryan “you two are _mate bonded_?”

“No, we aren’t-” Gavin stammered, cut off by Ryan.

“He’s my mate, and if you don’t let him go right now, I’ll fucking _gut_ you” Ryan growled.

_What is he doing?!_ If Scars knows Ryan is Gavin's mate, he’ll-

“This is perfect!” Scars announced “it’s all good and well beating the bird within an inch of his life, but his _mate?!_ That will _really_ screw with him”

Gavin was shaking, his whole body wracked with tremors.

_God, please, no_

“Please! He isn’t my mate! He just wants to protect me!” Gavin cried, desperate. He can’t let Ryan get hurt for him, he won’t let Ryan suffer like that.

“ _Hah!_ You wouldn’t be acting like this if you didn’t love him” scars chuckled, pushing to his feet, still holding Ryan’s horn.

Ryan snarled at him, trying to shake Scars grip from his horn.

Scars let go as his boot connected with Ryan’s abdomen.

“ _NO!”_ Gavin shrieked as Ryan choked and gasped, trying to curl forward but being forced up by the man holding his arms. The man dug his knee into Ryan’s back, forcing him to arch backwards as he struggled to breathe.

“I’m going to savour this” scars said like a person appraising a fine wine.

Gavin clung to the concrete, eyes wide and spilling tears as he watched Scars beat Ryan, tearing horrible noises from the bull as he tried to hold out against endless punch after punch.

Gavin felt like all the warmth had been sucked from his body, like he was an ice sculpture that would shatter if touched. He stopped hearing after a while, he barely noticed when the rain started to patter down. He couldn’t tell if his pleas were still producing actual sound, his throat hoarse like sandpaper.

After what felt like an eternity Scars finally stepped away from Ryan, signalling the others. Then they were gone; one blink there, the next they had disappeared.

Gavin felt his wings drop to the ground with a wet slap of feathers. And he felt his heart shatter at the sight of Ryan slumped on the ground a few meters ahead.

Gavin couldn’t feel his fingers as he scraped them over the ground, pulling himself over to his mate. He couldn’t feel his wings as they dragged along limp behind him.

He finally reached the bull, an unfamiliar pale hand and slowly reaching out and resting on Ryan’s shoulder. It took him too long to recognise it was his hand, the talons worn short and a few bleeding sluggishly where the quick had been reached.

“Ryan”

He bull’s body was trembling under his palm, heaving breath creating ripples in the puddle under his discoloured lips.

“Ryan”

He slowly rolled the bull onto his back, cradling his head in his arm as his other hand took a handful of Ryan’s shirt and grasped it hard.

“R-Ryan”

The bull’s eyes opened slightly, unfocused.

“Ga…v…vy” he breathed, barely a whisper. His lungs wheezed on each exhale. He felt too cold.

“Why did you do that” Gavin whispered, no real force behind the noise.

“t-to…kee…p….you….s-s-safe…” Ryan said, hardly even making a noise. The corner of his mouth pulled up slightly in a lopsided grin before he passed out.

Everything was monochrome in the weak light of the alley lamp.

Everything except the vibrant red clinging to their skin.

* * *

 

A thought occurred in Gavin’s mind.

His hand trailed over to Ryan’s pocket, groping until he managed to work Ryan’s phone out and into his hand.

He clicked the screen to life, and through the drops of water collecting on the screen he saw the red button.

He swiped it, and a beep began to ping every few seconds from its speakers.

This was the last thing he registered before his brain shut down and everything faded out of his mind.

\--

Gavin groaned, whimpering slightly at the end. He felt both too hot and too cold, he couldn’t decide what he needed.

His mind was hazy, confusing him and making it hard to figure out what was going on.

… _hey, relax honey, its ok…_

_…hold still, you need to rest…_

_…it’s ok, we’re here Gav…_

He felt uncomfortable, itchy and restless. He couldn’t tell if he was awake or not, he wasn’t able to place if his eyes were open or shut.

… _here, this will help you relax…_

Gavin began to ease back into the embracing nothingness that held him so well

\--

Gavin woke with a jolt, mind suddenly sharply awake but disoriented, the bird panting and looking around wildly.

“Rha…rhy… rhh…” he breathed, trying to push away whatever was laying over him and get upright.

“Whoa! Hey! It’s ok, Gav, everything ok!”

“Geoff?” Gavin asked, eyes now taking in his surrounding properly. He was at home in the herds bed, a duvet now resting over just his legs and Geoff beside him, one knee on the bed as he tried to ease Gavin back down by pressing gently on his shoulder.

“It’s ok, honey, you’re at home. You’re safe” Geoff soothed, Gavin letting him be guided back down. He tried to reach up and rub his face, but a sharp pain shot through his shoulder making him gasp and hiss.

“Wh…?” Gavin breathed, looking down at the ace bandages wrapped around his shoulder. He was shirtless, deep purple bruises peeking out around the binding.

“You need to rest. Your fever broke only a few hours ago” Geoff said, sitting on the edge of the bed and running his fingers soothingly through Gavin's hair.

“Where’s Ryan?” Gavin asked, grasping Geoff's wrist desperately.

“Shhh, he’s here too. He’s in the spare room, he’s going to be ok” Geoff said, taking Gavin's hand in his and rubbing the back to try calm the bird.

“I need to see him” Gavin whimpered, trying to prop himself up again. Geoff didn’t let him get very far this time.

“I swear to god, if you try to get up again I’ll get Jack to dose you up” Geoff said, stern but kind.

Tears began to well in Gavin's eyes, Geoff's smile fading as he rubbed Gavin's arm.

“It’s my fault. If they didn’t know Ryan was my mate they wouldn’t have hurt him. I did this” Gavin sobbed, Geoff fiercely shaking his head until Gavin paused to breathe.

“No, Gavin. This is _not_ on you. This is _not_ your fault, and if I had been be there and not him I’d have done the same thing” Geoff declared, reaching over and stroking Gavin's cheek.

“But if I had convinced them we weren’t mates they would have-”

“They would have killed you” Geoff said “but they didn’t kill Ryan. He did that on purpose”

Gavin’s eyebrows pushed together.

“What do you mean?”

“Ryan knew he could take a beating far better than you. He knew they would target him if he told them you are bonded. He woke up last night long enough to tell Jack that. He did it to protect you” Geoff explained.

Gavin's eyes brimmed with fresh, conflicted tears. He looked away from the ram.

“He shouldn’t have done that” Gavin whispered. Geoff nudged Gavin's face gently, the bird making eye contact again.

“We _all_ would have in a heartbeat. We _all_ would have defended you if it was us, just like we know you would have defended us if you were in the right position” Geoff said, holding Gavin's eyes with his as he spoke. Gavin hiccupped slightly.

“I love you” Gavin whispered.

“We love you too” Geoff whispered back, leaning close to press a chaste kiss to Gavin's lips.

There was a faint knock at the door before it cracked open slightly, two sets of eyes peeking it.

“Boi?” came a quiet mew. A smile spread on Gavin's face as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“My boi” Gavin chuckled, the door swinging open letting Ray and Michael spill into the room, scrambling over to the bed before quickly becoming gentle as they climbed on and crawled over to him.

“My boi!” Michael whisper-yelled, excited but cautious of making too much noise.

“You’re awake! I was getting bored of tea-bagging you while you slept” Ray said with equal controlled enthusiasm. Gavin giggled, moving his sore shoulder gently so the lads could curl up against each side of him, Geoff stepping back to sit in the chair he was using before Gavin woke up.

“Did you get pictures?” Gavin asked.

“Psh, of course” Ray said, easing Gavin's tender arm over his shoulder, twining their hands over his chest. Gavin ran his fingers through Michael’s thick curls with his other hand, a purr building in Michael's chest.

“I’m glad you’re awake, but you should really get some sleep” Michael said.

Gavin hummed quietly, letting his eyes closed.

“Will you stay with me?” he asked.

“Of course” the two lads said in unison.

\--

When Gavin woke next it was to the news that the police had caught two of the men, the one that had been holding Gavin down being harder to track down but they had a strong lead.

When the panic alarm had set of Geoff and Jacks phones, they had jumped in the truck and sped to the store, truck tune-ups be damned.

Gavin had apparently been awake but unresponsive, mumbling half formed words as he clung to Ryan like a vice, fever already building from the cold rain and extreme stress. Geoff had a quick search to see if the men were still there, but there was no trace. He called the police, cradling Gavin to him while Jack surveyed the extent of Ryan’s injuries.

They had been in the hospital for a few hours, but between the elevated cost of hybrid medical care and the doctor’s confidence that Ryan’s condition would not deteriorate into a dangerous situation they were released into Jacks care, his paramedic training more than adequate to watch over them.

Gavin had been put in the big bed, his only physical injuries being his shoulder and fever. Jack couldn’t address his talons till Gavin had woken, there only being a protein for doctors to help hybrids hide their features, and not one to help them present. They had waited out his fever, Jack keeping him pretty topped up on painkillers and relaxants.

Ryan had been put in the spare room bed so he would have a more peaceful environment to rest in.

3 cracked ribs, 2 broken. Bruises and cuts on his body and face, only a few stitches required but ample bandages and bindings.

His lip had split and plenty of muscles strained, but he would make a full recovery.

Gavin sighed, softly slipping his hand into Ryan’s. The bull was currently asleep, eyes moving behind his lids as he dreamed. Gavin hoped they were nice dreams.

The blanket had been drawn up to his collar bone, Jack not wanting to put any more stress on Gavin from the sight of his bound ribs and generous bruising. His hand was resting out the side of the blanket through, Gavin running this thumb across his knuckles.

“You’re insane” Gavin breathed “letting them kick your ass like that. Blimmin mad man”

“Love you too”

Gavin met Ryan’s eyes, the bull now watching him with a gentle smile.

“You told them on purpose” Gavin said, not angry or demanding. Just putting it into the air.

“Yep” Ryan said, a proud inflection in his voice. Gavin shook his head, trying to hide his small smile.

“It was monumentally stupid”

“Undoubtedly”

“And now you’re all busted up”

“Morphine is a great thing”

“And you’d probably do it again”

“Without question”

“Then as soon as you’re better we’re hitting the gym so I can get all buff and save your ass next time”

“No complaining?”

“I’ll make no such promise”

Ryan grinned

“I love you, little bird”

“I love you too, you colossal twat”

\--

“Ready everyone?”

“Hold on, I need to get my hot titties in the shot!”

“Put your shirt down Ray, this will probably go on the internet”

“When has _that_ ever stopped us?!”

The herd were all trying to squish on the biggest couch, crowding around in front of the iPhone front camera. The gents were sitting on the couch itself, the lads all sat in their laps pulling faces and squirming for the best positions.

“Your ass is so bony!”

“Well you’re digging your arm into my back!”

“Everyone shut up and smile!”

Gavin beamed, sandwiched between Michael and Ray, Jack beneath him with his arms thrown around the gent’s shoulders to pull them close.

Gavin's thumb hovered over the button, waiting for everyone to settle.

“Ok boys! 3…2…”

_I can’t imagine any place I’d rather be_

“CHEESE!”


End file.
